Different
by DiabolikFanfics
Summary: AU-A world where status matters most, where aristocrats think so little of the lower class-the poor or the middle, where the lower deems the upper monsters. Yui, part of the low class, couldn't care less of such labels.
1. Status

**Status**

* * *

 _"May I help?" A young boy at the age of six, with bright blue eyes gleaming with elation and filled with utmost glee, peeked his head between the slightly ajar door, scanning the inside of the busy kitchen._

 _The cooks within the kitchen, nearly dropping whatever that was they were holding, were startled by the question that had merely flew out of the boy's mouth seconds ago._

 _"Well, may I?" The blonde boy questioned once again. Giving no regards to their surprised and disturbed expressions plastered on their faces, he stepped foot into the kitchen and ignored the hushed gasps that left the mouths of a handful of cooks._

 _Blue eyes were illuminating, sparkling, with the enthusiasm of interacting with the cooks in the kitchen. "I want to learn how to cook."_

 _It sounded as if he wanted to learn how to cook._

 _But that wasn't the case._

 _He just wanted to spend time with them._

 _He wanted to spend time with them even though they were below him._

 _"Master, what are you talking about. You don't need to dirty your hands with such useless things."_

 _"Right, that's why you have servants."_

 _"Shu-sama, you're coming here too often. You should be spending more time with the others, not with...people like us...What will the others think of you."_

 _By others, Shu was sure the cook meant other aristocrats-people that were labeled in the same social class as him. But honestly, he didn't care what the others would think him. Besides, he and his brother would always head into villages that were inhabited by the poor. And of course all the servants weren't aware of that fact at , he and his brother had a strong suspicion that their mother was on to them._

 _"But..you guys are-It doesn't matter!...Social status doesn't matter to me!" He knew his reasoning wouldn't be relevant to them. He knew that aristocrats, such as himself, should look down on the poor as well as the middle. Disdain and disrespect was what most aristocrats showed towards those who are inferior to them. But to him, it didn't matter. It didn't matter to him of what social class someone held. He just wanted friends-other than rich arrogant brats-to play with._

 _Before he could think of anything else or say anything else, the head chief approached him._

 _"Master, the world we live in is where social status, social class, matters to almost everyone. Even though people such as ourselves are middle class, we're still looked down on when we are in the view of aristocrats..."_

 _Lost in thoughts for a moment, the chief trailed off._

 _"...I believe that they are more cruel towards the poor rather than the middle, I pity them..."_

 _The head chief, shaking away the thoughts, continued._

 _"Don't you understand that already? In this world, the ones who are filthy rich look down on others-"_

 _He could hear it. Shu could hear the hatred in the chief's voice when he said filthy rich._

 _A cook frantically interrupted,"Ah! Don't get us wrong. We don't hate you or anything like that. We are all happy to serve your family."_

 _The chief nodded and chuckled,"I apologize for my rudeness but social status means everything. You, an aristocrat, shouldn't even be getting along with people that are below you."_

 _"But-"_

 _Not letting Shu finish his words, the head chief gently patted the boy's blonde hair with a sincere smile. "Why don't you go play with Master Reiji? Breakfast will be done in a few more minutes."_

 _Shu backed away a bit, letting the head chief close the kitchen doors. The sound of the doors shutting echoed throughout the large hollow hallways that had lead the blonde to the kitchen. Staring at the closed doors with a downcast expression, the boy just stood still as a gloomy feeling took over him._

 _He felt it. He felt the dark gloomy feeling in his chest once again. And did not like it one bit. He didn't like the gloomy emotion he was feeling right at the moment. Nor did he even want to experience the feeling at the moment._

 _Rejected._

 _He was rejected yet again._

 _Numerous times Shu, along with his younger brother, had attempted to become friends-get along-with the servants and the people in the villages, yet they had all kindly rejected both of them countless of times._

 _The young boy and his younger brother were rich, nobles, aristocrats. They shouldn't even be befriending the poor in the first place. And yet Shu had kept on trying anyways, regardless of the expected rejections he knew he would receive. It didn't stop him from continuing his attempts of befriending the lower class._

 _But unfortunately, it also didn't stop the same old gloomy feeling from resurfacing._

 _"Rejected again?"_

 _"Reiji...do they hate us?"_

 _"How should I know? I always get the looks of fear whenever I try to talk with the ones in the villages. They're probably all afraid of all aristocrats-"_

 _"More like afraid of you...," the blonde boy chuckled._

 _"Anyways," emphasizing the word anyways, Reiji sent a small glare towards his brother. "I have already given up. Getting along with someone below us is impossible."_

 _"...You're probably right, but...," Shu gazed at the grand door in determination and said,"...just one last time..."_

 _"Suite yourself."_

 _It was impossible._

 _It was a ridiculous and an absurd idea._

...

"Shu, tomorrow is our first day of school as second year students, you better not be late." A young man with purplish-black hair and piercing red eyes addressed his older brother, as he took a seat on the edge of his own bed. "Are you listening to me you sloth."

"Reiji you're annoying..isn't that what the servants are for...,"Shu groaned. The blonde was about to go straight back to sleep when Reiji interrupted the sloth with a kick on the side of the bed.

Shu was lying in the comforts of Reiji's bed with ear buds plugged into his ears. "Don't worry, they'll wake me up on time...,"he reassured Reiji as he closed his blue eyes to a new serene music that was starting.

"How can I trust you when you always came late to school during our first year." The younger brother let out an exasperated sigh. He muttered out loud so that it was audible for his brother to hear, "You sloth."

"If you're that worried, why don't you wake me up yourself."

"I refuse."

Waking Shu up was absolutely impossible for Reiji. Once, Reiji had ended up with broken glasses. It had been the first attempt of waking Shu up as well. It was the very first attempt! The first attempt!

Again, Shu let out a breath of annoyance,"The servants will wake me up."

"How spoiled of you."

"Might as well use them, especially the maids-"

"Shu."

"Geez...I was only joking..."

Shu Sakamaki and Reiji Sakamaki were rich, a noble, an aristocrat. Their family was the most richest family in the area they lived in. Sheltered in a large mansion, fit for any wealthy family, they lived in the city. They also owned another mansion in the forest, which they had use when they were kids. It was their vacation home.

It was their vacation home that they never wanted to visit again.

...

 _In the background, a tranquil tune from a violin and a piano was being played._

 _Both instruments being played by boys at the age of six._

 _"...What a gorgeous view..."_

 _Not far from the big city, was a large forest painted in different shades of green. Majority of the trees had dark green leaves, while a few of the trees had light green or even lighter than light green leaves. There was even a tree where each leaf on the tree was a different shade of green, ranging from the darkest shade of green to the most palest green._

 _"..."_

 _That one exotic tree, as well as the wooden houses that surrounded it, was reflected in the blue eyes of a woman with blonde hair. The view wasn't quite far nor was it too close. It was a perfect view for the woman. Standing on the outside balcony, the woman placed her hands on top of the pale railing and admired the view._

 _Suddenly the sound of the violin stopped, but the sound of the piano was still present._

 _"-Mom, mom...mom."_

 _The woman's eldest child, who was older than his sibling by a month, appeared next to her. Shu tried calling out for her, however, with that peaceful smile on the woman's lips, it was obvious that she was in a completely peaceful trance._

 _Curious as to what his mother was staring at this time, the eldest son followed his mother's gaze. Obviously enough, Shu wasn't as tall as his mother, however he could still somewhat see what his mother was so transfixed on._

 _An exotic tree. J_ _ust as always, Shu thought. He didn't understand why his mother would always take over his and Reiji's bedroom, like right now, just to stare off into space on their balcony. His mother had a balcony of her own, so why didn't she use hers instead?_

 _Reiji, who was playing the piano, kept on producing calming music._

 _Beatrix Sakamaki was Reiji's and Shu's mother. She, who would always lecture her sons about not interacting with the lower class, was a hypocrite. Lecturing her kids on people they should be interacting with, agreeing with other nobles that the lower class were an eyesore, when she interacts with the poor herself._

 _As her sons would do so in secret, she would also sneak off into a certain village she was quite fond of._

 _It was that same exact village she was staring at right at the the moment; the wooden houses that surrounded the exotic tree. A dear friend of hers, who was definitely not an aristocrat, lived there._

 _Beatrix was dreaming, dreaming of the day when she wouldn't have to hide the fact that she interacted with-_

 _"-Mom! mom, mom!"_

 _"-Mother!"_

 _The piano nor the violin was being played. Only desperate cries was heard. The blonde's daydream having been interrupted by her sons, she was no longer daydreaming. She turned her attention to her sons in mild irritation, slightly annoyed at them for disrupting her daydream._

 _"What is it?"_

 _"Fire, there's a fire!" Shu gripped the vertical stone bar with one hand, while his other hand pointed his mother in the direction of dark-gray and red-orange._

 _The moment Beatrix Sakamaki laid her eyes on where the fire was, panic consumed her on the inside. But on the outside, she was composed and acted like a cold-blooded person murderer. Burning fire nor the odor of dark-gray smoke fazed her on the outside._

 _"Mother?"_

 _"Mom?"_

 _Her sons turned to their mother with questioning yet fearful expressions. And in return, she smiled._

 _"A fire? It is fine, is it not? It will not reach us."_

 _The calm smile sickened both of her sons, but eldest son was the one who lashed out._

 _"-That's not it! There're people living there, people like us! Why aren't you doing anything, why aren't we doing anything about it?"_

 _"People? People like us? Shu, listen closely. They are merely servants, pawns, tools, that we use." Cold eyes stared down at Shu, making the young child freeze up in shame and fear. The boy's fuel to argue ran out in a flash, letting someone else take over._

 _"Shu is correct mother. Lives will be lost-"_

 _"Quiet."_

 _Beatrix shifted her cold icy glare away from Shu and focused on Reiji, causing the boy to tense up in fear as well._

 _"-Beatrix-sama, Shu-sama, Reiji-sama, lunch is ready!"_

 _"Beatrix-sama, lunch is ready!"_

 _Stern blue eyes turned back into calm ones._

 _"You heard them, lunch is ready."_

 _As her sons ran to the dinning room, Beatrix stayed put and turned back to the view of destruction. The smoke was much darker than a few minutes ago, and the fire was burning much stronger and brighter than ever._

"...I will cry. Especially that daughter of yours that you adore so much..."

 _On the inside was where Beatrix Sakamaki lost all her composure._

 _Inside her head, she mentally hoped the fire would just disappear already._

 _"...I want to help, but I cannot...Please do not die..."_

 _Social class really mattered to almost everyone._

 _..._

The middle class lived in the city along with the rich. Middle class people were able to afford a normal home, and live normally. Some would side along with the nobles to rise in rank and such while others would side with the poor, sympathizing and offering money to them.

The rich, however, thought that people were either rich or poor. They thought that it was either one or the other. They thought they were the most important people in the world, looking down on those who were below them in social status.

Though there are some exceptions.

Such as the Sakamaki family.

The richest family living in the area.

"Sleepy..." The blonde let out a yawn and drifted off to sleep.

Reiji's eyes started to twitch with annoyance. "Hey wait a second, this is my bed, my room. Wake up."

"Zzz..."

The purplish-black haired boy sighed. It was useless to try and awaken the sleeping beauty up. Reiji was about to head to Shu's room when he remembered ear buds were still plugged in the blonde's ears.

Unplugging the ear buds from his brother's ears, he muttered," Honestly, why am I even doing this. Don't fall asleep with ear buds in your ears, it might damage your ears."

Finished with his task, he gently shut the doors and headed to Shu's room for the night.

* * *

"Hey Yuma..." A young girl around the age of sixteen with, slightly wavy, platinum blonde hair and slightly dark pink eyes, lied on the top bed of a bunk bed. She shifted around in her bed with her pink eyes wide awake as if it was the afternoon.

She was restless. After all, tomorrow was going to be her very first day of high school along with her friend Yuma.

"How can you sleep like this!" The boy she was addressing to was peacefully asleep on the bottom of the bunk bed. He was the same age as her but, compared to the girl, he was much taller. Brown messy hair was tied up in a messy bun as he slept.

"Mhm...Zzz."

Friends since childhood and parentless at the age of six, the Yuma and Yui lived with each other in the village. The villagers were really kind and generous, treating each other as if they were a blood-related family member. Everyone was all very lively, despite being disrespected by the classes above them and the tragedy of losing three odd, but dear villagers.

"Maybe food might wake you up...Hey Yuma do you want food?"

Sometimes they would go hunting for food such has berries and nuts, but most of the time it was gardening. Their village had a large garden that supplied everyone with veggies and fruits. If they wanted meat they would have to head into the city to buy some, but the two rarely went into the city.

 _..._

 _"This is stupid, I don't want to go into the city!"_

 _A boy, struggling to break free, was trapped between his parents with one arm being secured by his mother while the other was secured by his father._

 _"It'll be fun, my mom says it'll be fun," a girl argued cheerfully as she walked alongside her mother, holding her mother's hand and swinging her mother's arm as well as her own arm back and forth._

 _"Why can't Yuma be more like Yui-chan," Yuma's mother muttered._

 _"What are you talking about dear, won't it be weird if Yuma started to act just like Yui."_

 _In return, Yui's mother laughed," Yuma-kun, be good boy and listen to your parents for once, okay?"_

 _"Yeah Yuma, listen to you parents for once."_

 _The little blonde girl didn't mean to provoke the boy or anything like that, but her comment ticked off the boy anyhow._

 _"Shut it!"_

 _But the naive girl continued on, oblivious to the boy's anger._

 _"Hey Yuma, weren't you the one who wanted meat for dinner today?"_

 _"S-shut up! Just shut up already!"_

 _Regardless of his struggles, the boy winded up in the city anyways._

 _Yuma didn't understand how they, his mother, his father, his friend, and his friend's mother, thought. He didn't understand why they believed in the idea that all aristocrats weren't all that bad at all. The thought, that idea, never crossed his mind. In his perspective, all aristocrats were spoiled to the core._

 _Each and every one of them were spoiled._

 _..._

Her friend seemed perfectly sound asleep and food wasn't going to wake him up. It wasn't going to be an easy task of waking him up, but she needed someone to share the anxiety she was feeling.

Suddenly perfect idea hit her.

It was a fact that Yuma loved gardening. He was way more enthusiastic than Yui whenever they tended to the village's garden. But since there was no room to plant a garden of his own, he could only dream of having own of his own.

"I'm sorry Yuma...," Yui muttered to herself as she climbed down the small ladder and kneeled down on the floor beside Yuma's bed. Leaning closer to his ears, she whispered," The rats are destroying your garden! They're eating the cherry tomatoes!"

The tactic that would usually work did absolutely nothing right now.

"Huh?"

It certainly didn't wake him up. But as she inspected his face for any sign of being awake, she noticed Yuma's eyes were shut tightly like he was having a bad nightmare.

"I wonder if..."

...

 _"M-Mommy...e-everyone left already, s-shouldn't we be going too?"_

 _"You two kids go, we'll try to put out the fire until help comes," the blonde's mother and her friend's parents continued gathering dirt into the wooden bucket._

 _"What help, they aren't going to help us,"the boy's eyes was focused only on his parents._

 _There was huge mansion located around their village and it was occupied by an aristocrat 's parents. Yui's mother as well as Yuma's parents believed that they would actually give a damn and rush to their village to put out the flames or alert the fire-fighters in the city._

 _The three grown-ups and two kid remained in the village while the other villagers had already fled. The three adults used dirt to try and put out the flames. But their attempts were vain considering that only three people were trying to put out the flames. Fire just burned glowed brighter than before and burned stronger._

 _"Mom, Dad, let's get out of here already!"_

 _"Haven't you heard Komori-san, you two kids go somewhere safe."_

 _"Hurry up and go now."_

 _His parents kept at it, gathering dirt and dumping it in the flames. He, who couldn't handle the heat of the blazing flames, felt like flames were burning him alive. He didn't understand how the three adults could withstand the heat._

 _"I'll h-help t-too," the blonde, lightheaded from the sweltering heat, clumsily gathered a small pile of dirt in her hands and dumped it on a small fire nearby._

 _"Yui, that's dangerous. Please stop it, stop it, and get out of here."_

 _The blonde, ignoring her mother's pleads blindly continued her actions of gathering dirt and dumping it on nearby flames._

 _"Yuma, please take her somewhere safe."_

 _Throwing his now unconscious friend on top of his shoulder, the boy complied and ran. As the boy ran to safety, behind him, the fire burned more stronger and blocked the adults exit routes._

 _"Well, we might not make it out alive, but I still believe that help will come. Don't you two think so as well," Yui's mother continued putting out the flames._

 _"Of course," Yuma's parents continued dumping buckets of brown into hot fiery red._ _Desperately, the three adults continued to put out the fire, believing that help would come their way._

 _All three adults believed that help would soon be on its way, even until the end._

 _But it was heavy rain that cleared the fire, not the aristocrats they had believed so strongly in._

 _"Why...why do you believe in them so much..."_

 _He then remembered his parents and Yui's mother desperately putting out the flames."...Even until the end, why is it that you all still believe that..."_

 _"Waaahhaaahhhhh...aaaahhhhhwaaaaaaaahhhh!"_

 _The heart-wrenching sound of sobbing and agonizing screaming came from his friend that collapsed on the ground beside him._

 _The intense feeling of heat was gone and was replaced with coldness._

 _The sight of blazing red fire was replaced with heavy raindrops._

 _The smell of gray-dark smoke was replaced with the fresh smell of rain._

 _Kneeling on the wet dirt, in front of a collapsed house, Yuma trembled as his tears and Yui's tears contributed in turning the dirt around them into mud._ _Yuma was sure that the aristocrats from the mansion would have been able to see or smell the smoke and it irked him that no help came from them._

 _"They don't care about us-the lower class!"_

 _"ahwaahh..mommy!"_

 _When all the villagers came back, everyone banned together to rebuild the houses. They regretted fleeing away and not contributing in putting out the fire. All the houses didn't make it out alive, but an exotic tree that the blonde's mother had planted still stood tall in the middle of the burnt down village._

 _..._

Yui didn't want her friend to remember those awful memories again. So with a frown, she picked up her own pillow and slammed it down on Yuma's face.

"Ow-fucking Yui!"

The girl failed her arms around in panic," Are you okay, did I hit too hard? I'm sorry!"

"Tch, why did you wake me up." His tired eyed glared at the blonde.

"I-I mean, how can you sleep like that! Tomorrow is our first day of high school as first year students, Yuma! How can you not be worried!"

Yuma let out an exasperated sigh, laying back onto his bed. "Seriously, you worry to much."

"We're supposed to be worried together!"

"Whatever, I'm going back to sleep."

"Wait, no. Don't-

"Zzz..."

"Yuma, wake up!"

She badly wanted to shake him by the shoulders and slap his face over and over, however that would just make her feel like a terrible person. But, it would make her an even more terrible person to let her friend sleep with a nightmare haunting him.

And so she smothered Yuma with her pillow until he would stay awake.

"Quit it Yui!"

"Let's worry together!"

"Hell no, do that yourself!"


	2. First Day of School

**First Day of School**

* * *

Sleeping in his brother's room was probably the worst thing Reiji had ever experience. He didn't get a good night's rest at all. Reiji lied in bed with his red eyes wide awake, yet they were restless. His bloodshot eyes proved the fact that he didn't get a good night's rest. His right eye started to twitch in annoyance.

"That sloth, he's not even awake yet is he."

Despite the lack of sleep he got, Reiji managed to get himself to sit upright.

Today was the first day of school and unlike a certain person, he wasn't worried. Finished with his morning routine of brushing his teeth and washing his face, he went to his own room and laid out his school uniform on his own bed. More precisely, he laid out his uniform on top his brother. Reiji's uniform consisted of black pants, white dress shirt, black jacket, and a red tie. Fully dressed in his uniform, he began his mission of waking his brother up.

"Don't worry you say yet you are still asleep." Reiji sighed in annoyance as he towered over Shu, who had a peaceful expression on his face while drooling, and prepared to yell as loud as he could, "Wake up already!"

"Zzz…..."

"I guess there's no other choice then..." With a small smirk forming on his features, Reiji pulled the blanket off of Shu which resulted the blonde in face-planting on the floor. Reiji grabbed his brother's ankles, dragging his brother towards the bathroom. His brother didn't mind one bit though. He was still sleeping peacefully while drooling as the rough carpet floor rubbed against his skin.

"Master, is everything okay? Is there anything I could—" The servant was lost for words at the sight of Reiji dragging the blonde towards the bathroom.

"Please do not worry, I will handle this matter myself."

"Master what are..."

"I am merely splashing him with water to wake him up, so please do not worry about it."

"Don't you think that's a bit to extreme, Master..."

"No, not at all."

* * *

Yui lied in bed with eyes wide open and stared up at the brown wooden ceiling with blood shot eyes. She didn't get as much sleep as she had intended to. She sat upright and let out a yawn as she rubbed her tired blood shot eyes. After stretching out her sore limbs, she climbed down the small ladder and began her task of waking her browned haired friend from his deep slumber.

"Yuma-kun wake up," she whispered as she shook him by the shoulders.

"Zzz…tomatoes…."

"..."

Yui didn't really want to go through with the plan, but she had to. Besides, they had to arrive early to school in order to search for their classes ans explore the school.

"The rats are at it again! They're killing your precious baby tomatoes!"

"Little fuckers, I'm-ow!" Brown eyes flashed wide open, but soon scrunched up in pain when he bumped the top of his head against the bottom of the top bed. "Fucking Yui, stop saying shit like that!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry, but we have to get ready for school." Yui tossed Yuma's school uniform at him, letting the clothes droop over his head and around his shoulders. She went into the bathroom, applying tooth paste on her toothbrush, and hurriedly rushed out the bathroom.

"Geez, at least think of a better way of waking me up…" Yuma sat upright, soothing his head.

"It was the only way..."

"Ha? What did you say," with his brown eyes full of energy, Yuma jokingly threatened. Unlike Yui, who had dead tired blood shot eyes, his eyes was very well rested.

"N-nothing..n-nothing at all."

With that said, Yui went out the house and towards the nearby river. Unlike the city, all houses in the villages didn't have water pipes that would supply them with water.

After brushing their teeth and washing their face with the water the river provided them with, they headed back home and changed into their school uniform. Respectively, they changed into their school uniform in different rooms. Yui occupied the bathroom while Yuma chose the bedroom which wasn't really considered a bedroom since it was just a bunk-bed placed in a living room.

"It's almost the same as wearing all black, do they know what a sun is," Yuma complained. His uniform consisted of a black jacket worn over a white dress shirt and black pants.

"I think the jackets are optional, but their uniform are nice," Yui chirped, opening the bathroom door. Her uniform consisted of a red bow, black skirt that ended above her knees, a black blazer worn over a black vest, and a white dress shirt worn under the black vest.

Fully dressed in the standard uniform, they grabbed their school bags and rushed out the door. An apple was held in Yui's hand and the same went for Yuma. Since Yui didn't cook breakfast like she usually did, apples would be able their breakfast for today.

"Oh? It's Yui-chan and Yuma-kun."

"Good luck with school you two."

"Don't get lost!"

"Stay out of trouble you two!"

Still facing the road ahead of them, Yuma and Yui waved the back of their hands at the villagers to bid them farewell. Waving the hand occupied with the apple, Yui faced the villagers and shouted, "Don't worry, we won't get lost or get in trouble!"

Of course they wouldn't get lost in a school where they had never stood foot in. Totally.

And of course they wouldn't get into any types of trouble considering the fact that Yuma loved to get into fights with the rich. They totally wouldn't get in trouble.

...

"Are you serious Yui, we could have slept in a bit more."

Arriving at school didn't take very long. From their village to the school it took about ten minutes or so. They arrived to school at seven twenty and classes was going to start in about thirty minutes.

The school they were attending was Jewel High School; a school that was mostly filled with rich students. Jewel High School wasn't specifically made for the rich nor was it specifically made for the poor. It didn't matter whether the students were poor or rich, Jewel High welcomed them with open arms. The school had an amazing principal and amazing teachers as well, but unfortunately the faculty nor the principal had the authority to put and end on how the wealthy students treated the poor students.

In Jewel High School, in most schools in the city, students of same social class stuck together and there was no such thing as the rich being friends with the poor or vice versa.

"We have to find our classes, that's why we're here so early."

Blindly walking around the unfamiliar and ridiculously huge school, they searched for their classes. It was quite a huge school for one that was located near their village. But then again,it was also located near the city. If one would follow the dirt path, it would send them to a wide bridge for vehicles and a small bridge for pedestrians that would lead them into the city.

"Why do we have to find our classes right now, it's so early." Yuma might have been exaggerating and all, but it was still pretty damn early.

To stop Yuma from complaining, Yui brought up an embarrassing memory from middle school, "Ah!...remember that time where you-"

"Okay, okay! I get it. Lets hurry it up already."

...

"Ah..fifteen minutes to spare," Yui mumbled as she stretched her arms.

Finding their classes wasn't as difficult as Yui thought it would have been. They had also encountered a few teachers that were going to be their teachers for the entire school year and they were unexpectedly really nice. Hearing that Jewel High School contained mostly rich students, they had thought the teachers were going to be rude jackasses. More precisely, it was Yuma who had thought that everyone in the school were going to be rude assholes while Yui had thought the opposite, only thinking up of positive thoughts about the teachers and the school.

After checking out where their last class was they both headed to their first class, which was located right next to each other. "How lucky! All of our classes are pretty much next to each other."

"Yeah and we have the same classroom for our last class."

As they both walked through the now crowded hallways, towards their first class, they encountered an unsightly scene in the hallways that made Yui gasp in horror. "How awful..."

A student of high class was tormenting a low class student.

"Eh~ Can you repeat what you just said, why can't I get it myself you say? I merely asked you to fetch a bottle of water and you start complaining." A student, more specifically an aristocrat, sneered as he started spitting saliva on a boy who was trembling in utter fear. The rich student started kicking and verbally attack the poor guy. "Seriously, this school should just only be a school for the rich. Know your place already you commoner."

Curled up on the ground, the poor student apologized several times in a shaky voice, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

Other students just stood by the sidelines, watching the scene unravel before them. Wealthy students were snickering and laughing, enjoying the scene that was currently being played out before their eyes. Poor and middle class students could do nothing but watch as their fellow friend took a beating. "It hurts s-so please stop. P-please stop."

The rude brat didn't stop. Ignoring the pleads and apologies, he kept on kicking and kicking and enjoyed the cries of pain he was emitting from the bruised up kid on the floor. "I'm serious, know your place already. When I order you to do something, you must obey me. It's that simple."

Yuma was straight-out pissed. The scene playing out right before him made him sick to the pit of his stomach. Brown eyes was burning with red hot anger, eager to teach the bully a lesson. Forming a fist with his right hand, he clenched his jaws and fist in anger. He badly wanted to rush up to the arrogant bastard and beat the living shit out of him, however Yui's tight grip on his arm prevented him from doing so.

"Calm down Yuma..." Relaxing to the soothing sound of Yui's voice, he calmed down a bit.

It wasn't that Yui wasn't livid, she just wasn't as livid as Yuma was. Anger only consumed her for a short amount of time and dissipated rather quickly. Anger was overshadowed by worry. She was concerned about the battered student curled up on the floor and wanted to rush the boy to the nurse.

"People like you are just mere servants who serve aristocrats so don't ever think of disobeying the orders of an aristocrat." The boy kicked at the battered student several times before stomping on the student's cheek.

Something in Yuma snapped; his blazing anger resurfaced once again.

"Fucking bastard, why don't you say that straight to my face!"

Releasing her grip on Yuma's arm, she couldn't endure it any longer either. The small amount of blood that stained the light blue floor made her feel sick to the point of throwing up. It was a miracle that she could keep herself from throwing up right there and then. Dismissing the sight of blood in her mind, Yui managed to squeak out her words despite her voice was quaking in fear.

"P-please st-top! Y-you're going way too f-far! There's b-blood on the floor already!"

* * *

Both Reiji and Shu arrived to school soaked in water. Well, on the bright side they weren't completely drenched. Shu's hair was thoroughly soaked with water as well as his white dress shirt. Reiji's hair was also soaked with water but not completely drenched; his sleeves were wet from his wrist to his elbow. Not bothering to dry nor change into dry clothing, they both headed towards their first class and as expected, they had the same classes at the same time with each other.

"It's too noisy over there…"

True enough, the direction they were heading towards was crawled with annoying voices that rivaled the sounds of a large army of crickets chirping.

"Indeed it is, let's go the other way."

They turned back, heading towards a different route towards their first class. Just then, a sudden realization occurred to Shu. That would mean meeting his mortal enemy since his first year of being in Jewel High School—the bloody god damn stairs.

"Reiji...I don't want to walk up the stairs..." Shu stopped walking.

Reiji dragged the blonde along with him, regardless of his brother's hate for the stairs. "At least we won't hear any noisy chattering."

* * *

Seated at the teacher's desk was Beatrix Sakamaki looking at a list of names on the paper she held in her hand.

"Yui-chan and Yuma-kun are in my class...I'm glad..."

A peaceful yet regretful smile rested on the woman's lips.


	3. First Day and Where is the Health Office

_Italics=thoughts_

* * *

 **First Day of School and Where the Fuck is the Health Office!**

* * *

"Are they looking for a fight or something..."

"Trying to pick a fight against an aristocrat...just how idiotic are they."

"Aren't they new here and all..."

"Oh well, they'll probably get kicked out of this school after this."

"Don't they even know the position they stand in? Honestly, picking a fight with an aristocrat...what's wrong them."

Whispers spread like a blazing hot wild fire and Yuma gave absolutely no shits about the whispers one bit. The only thing lingering in his mind was the vision of beating the crap out of the aristocrat. Rude, arrogant, spoiled, bastards, like the one standing in his line of vision, made him boil with uncontrolled rage and utter hatred. His hate for having to wake up early for school couldn't even begin to rival against the cold sheer hatred he felt towards aristocrats.

The tension in the air was suffocating, too suffocating for Yui to handle. She didn't enjoy the attention they were both getting. Rude remarks about her brown haired friend and herself didn't escape her ears that easily, however her thoughts was flooded with nothing but worry. The sight of blood was creeping her out. Even though it was just a few amount of blood, it still made her feel sick to the very pit of her stomach. Her stomach started to feel more queasy, indicating the need to vomit out her digested apple from breakfast. She gagged a bit. Small bits of liquid vomit trailed up her throat, wanting to be released. Covering her mouth with both her hands, she forced herself to swallow the liquid back down and back into her stomach it went. The vile taste of vomit did not suite her taste buds on bit. "Ha.." She dropped her arms to her sides, slightly clenching her jaws and fists in anger.

"Please stop already, he already apologized...so stop it already. Apologize a-and...l-let's all get along with each other!" This time her voice wasn't trembling with as much fear as it had done so before. Her pink eyes gleamed in fury. Her voice was clear, yet desperate and urgent as well. She wanted to bring the injured kid to the nurse as soon as she possibly could.

The gossip among the students came to a complete stop and dead silence filled the hallway.

"First year students huh?...You two are definitely not aristocrats." Breaking the silence, the boy reluctantly stopped the torture. No longer was his gaze stuck on the unconscious boy, but his attention turned to Yuma and Yui, forgetting about the boy that lied on the floor beside him. "Let me give you a friendly piece of advice, okay? Don't get all chummy with the rich like me, I'm aristocrat if you couldn't tell."

 _Ring._

The bell rang through out the extravagant hallway, making students scurry off to their first class.

"What's their problem..."

"Who knows..."

"Who cares, they'll both probably get kicked out sooner or later."

"Hey, did you hear that girl?"

"Let's all get along she says, how absurd."

Once the hallway was all cleared, both Yui and Yuma quickly rushed to the unconscious boy's side. Taking off their black school blazers, they used it to clean up the blood stains on the bright blue tiled floor as well as the smeared blood that was stained on the boys face.

"That fucking bastard..." Yuma muttered as he roughly wiped off the light red blood in the boy's cheeks. Anger was clearly present in his voice. Aristocrats. Yuma loathed them. He still couldn't believe that Yui was still held on to the idea that the rich and the poor could get along with each other. His thoughts weren't the same as Yui. When he was younger, he had disliked them to a certain degree. But, an unfortunate event fueled him with even more hatred towards aristocrats.

"Be gentle Yuma, you're rubbing to hard."

"Shit, sorry," Yuma stopped the rough scrubbing and gently tended to the bloodstains as if they were his plants.

The corner of Yui's lips quirked up a bit, forming small smile," I'm surprised that you didn't punch him Yuma-kun."

"Hah? I can still beat the shit out of him during lunch."

Yui's smile dropped and turned into a frown, "You're not even trying to not get into fights, please stop getting into fights already..."

"Tch, he deserves a slow and painful beating anyways."

Yuma and Yui stayed put in the hallway, tending to the injured student. After cleaning up the bloodstains, Yui shook the boy gently by the shoulders,"Are you okay, can you hear me?"

Brown and pink worrisome eyes gazed at the unresponsive figure. With the help of Yuma, Yui tried to wake the boy up once more,"Are you okay, please wake up-"

"Ugh..aah...thank..you..." The boy tried getting up but he slumped back to the floor and back into his unconscious state he went.

"We have hurry and get him to the nurse."

Yuma nodded, carrying the unconscious boy on his back,"You can head to class I'll—oh crap wait." He was about to head on his way when a sudden realization hit him.

"After exploring the place you still don't know where the health office is do you."

"Show me the way again..."

...

"Yui, you don't know where it is either do you."

Even though Yui was the one who had successfully found their classes, she didn't really remember the locations of other important places like the health office. Who could blame her? It was a ridiculously huge ass school after all.

"W-we're close by, s-so don't w-worry!" Yui clenched her fists, failing them in the air. Her cheeks dyed with a tint of red, embarrassed to fully admit that she didn't know the exact location of the health office. Heck, she didn't even know where they were. At the science department? The math department? She had no clue.

"Don't worry? I'm not worried-you're the one who's worrying!"

Despite saying that, Yuma was worried about the boy on his back.

"Please be quiet and let me c-concentrate." Yui frantically searched for a door labeled with the words health office. She flailed her arms a bit, embarrassed with the fact that she didn't know where the god damn health office was located. Yuma trailed behind her, wanting to get the kid to the nurse as soon as possible.

"Haha...you guys are...really amazing..." The beaten-up boy on Yuma's back shifted around a bit.

"You're finally awake-don't move around too much," Yui warned, stopping the boy from further moving around.

"...To stand up...against someone like that...you guys are really amazing..."

Amazing? Us? You were able to withstand that beating. Aren't you the amazing one here?"

Nodding in agreement to Yui's statement, a broad smile was plastered in Yuma's expression.

"Ah but...you..looked like you...really wanted…..to punch that guy...I wouldn't….be able to do tha—" The boy let out a couple of harsh coughs.

Yui patted the boy's back, attempting to stop the coughing, "Ah..are you okay? Don't talk to much."

"She's right. Don't talk too much."

"Right…but you two don't know where the health office is right."

"..." They both fell silent, not knowing how to respond.

The boy chuckled a bit. "Don't worry….I think….I can walk on my own."

"Wait, at least let Yuma carry you until we reach the office.

"Yeah, you still have those injuries on you. Lead the way."

"Really you don't—"

"Alright then, hurry up and look for the health office Yui!

They were quite persistent in keeping the boy off the ground. They had their right to do so, since he was pretty badly beaten after all.

"Wait that's the wrong way. I'll lead the way." With that the boy caved in and pointed them in the right directions.

…..

"You guys are really life savers, thanks a bunch."

Yuma kneeled on the floor, letting the bruised up boy off his back.

"We're glad we could help." Yui flashed the boy a wide smile. Once the boy disappeared through the doors of the health office, her wide smile dropped.

She believed that perhaps not all aristocrats were so rude and arrogant. That maybe it was possible for the rich and the poor to get along with each other, however the sight of the aristocrat beating up the poor student instilled fear in her. Never had she once felt afraid of aristocrats but now she was terrified. Just slightly. Nonetheless Yui still strongly believed that some aristocrats weren't so rude or arrogant and that the rich and poor could get along.

Noticing Yui's frown, Yuma tried cheering her up a bit, "He'll get a fast recovery."

"Yeah..."

 _Ring._

"Shit!"

"Oh no, the tardy bell! Yuma-kun we have to hurry!"

"That's the wrong way idiot, it's the other way!" Yuma pointed towards the opposite way that and sprinted into the correct direction with Yui trailing behind him. "Ha! Looks who's depending on me with the directions now!"

Ever since that one incident in his first year of middle school, Yuma tended to trust Yui with directions. He swore he had seen the words boys bathroom labeled on that middle school bathroom door. "That's the wrong bathroom, maybe you need glasses Yuma. Don't worry, it won't look bad on you,"was what Yui had said when she stopped him from entering the wrong bathroom.

"...Hey Yuma, remember that restroom incident."

"That was a long time ago, don't freaking remind me!"

* * *

Reiji's and Shu's first class was absolute horror. It felt like they were repeating their first year of high school all over again. Just like their first year of Jewel High School all their classes was the same plus they would always sit next to each other in class. Rich girls would flock around them, gossiping like no tomorrow. Despite the teacher's threats, which consisted of detention and extra homework, the girls would never budge. Since Reiji and Shu would sit in the very back of their classroom for all of their class, the chattering didn't really disrupt the lectures.

"Hey Shu-sama, Reiji-sama why are you guys wet?"

"Was is your servants?"

"Did they accidentally spill water on you guys?"

"Seriously, some servants useless sometimes."

Shu was a tad pissed off by the insulting comments, but he didn't let it show. He was far too laid back to let it show, plus he shouldn't even be getting angry over such a little thing. Insults were thrown at the poor like spit balls everyday in Jewel High. He heard it everyday and did nothing but seethe on the inside. Getting angry over something like that, just what use would it make.

"..." Shu let out a fake yawn. The blonde face-planted on the smooth surface of the desk and though it was hard and slightly painful, it was worth it. Pretending fall asleep, he hid his blue eyes from his annoying classmates that flocked around him.

"Ah! Shu-sama fell asleep."

"Cute!"

"Ah...looks like we won't be able to talk to Shu-sama..."

The girls, that had surrounded the blonde a few minutes ago, left and gathered around Reiji instead. Damn, why hadn't he thought of that at the beginning of his first year?

"Hey Reiji, you're not wearing glasses anymore?"

"Is it alright if I drop the honorifics?"

"Kya, me too!"

"Me too!"

"Yes, I am perfectly fine with that." Though Reiji was smiling, it was a completely fake one. Mentally, he wished that the girls would just sit back in their own seats and let him concentrate on the lectures. Their chatter annoyed him to no end.

It seemed that school was going to be the same as their first year for the two Sakamaki brothers...

"Ah! Reiji did you hear?"

"There were these two first year students..."

"They weren't aristocrats at all..."

"That's right, and they were talking back against an aristocrat."

"Those two dug themselves a hole already."

"How idiotic, isn't it?"

"One of them was spouting such nonsense like being friends and all that."

"How stupid, right?"

Shu's ear slightly perked up at the rumor. _Friends? Two first year students..._ Now that he thought about it, it was certainly noisy in the morning. Perhaps it was from those two students. _Friends...that's impossible...impossible...ridiculous._

Reiji was also as curious as Shu was, though he didn't show it.

"Friends with the poor...what an absurd idea, whoever still believes in such a thing like that is really an idiot..." Reiji muttered under his breath.

"Reiji-sama did you say something."

"No, nothing at all."


	4. Encounter

_Italics= thoughts_

* * *

 **Encounter**

* * *

It was official.

The rest of the day was definitely going to be living hell for the two Sakamaki brothers. The first few classes was already utter hell for them and they're pretty sure the last batch of classes will be pure hell as well. So far, they had been constantly pestered by girls in all of their classes. It seriously felt like they were actually repeating their first year all over again.

But thankfully it was lunchtime right now.

A break from the high-pitch squeals was exactly what they needed.

"Reiji...let's hurry and head to the rooftop..." As usual, Shu sounded as lethargic as ever. He picked up his face from his desk; he had been pretending to sleep to avoid any interactions with troublesome girls who had flocked around him earlier in class. He stood up from his seat and waited for Reiji to pack up. He grabbed his school bag, settling the strap over his shoulder.

"Shu..you..." Reiji noticed a small light red circle imprinted on his forehead. He assumed the cause of it was Shu's desk. Then again, Shu was technically the cause of the red mark; after all, he had been pretending to sleep with his face planted flat on his desk.

"Hmm? What is it..." He blankly stared at his brother with lazy blue eyes.

"Never mind."

They didn't spend their lunchtime in the cafeteria or in the school garden like most of the students did. It was the rooftop; that was where the two brothers always spent their lunchtime. They had picked a rooftop that was closer to the school garden, despite the loud chattering from the garden. Even though the chattering would reach their ears every now and then, from their rooftop, they could view the enormous sight of the school garden and be at peace. That rooftop was where they spent all of their time during lunch.

The school garden was honestly the most enormous garden they ever saw. It was slightly bigger than the one they owned. It was filled with gorgeous roses of all colors, but red roses were the most prominent. There were even a few black and rainbow colored roses too. Countless of times Reiji wondered whether the gardeners had dyed some of the roses. Black roses and rainbow roses?

Though it was interesting, Reiji thought it was unnatural. Like how he thought it was unnatural for an aristocrat to be friends with a poor.

"Eh? What guys talking about."

"Didn't hear? There was these two new first years..."

"Are they rich?"

"Of course not."

"But...that boy didn't look so bad."

"That doesn't change the fact that he's poor."

"But-"

"Don't even think about it."

 _How_ _annoying._ Shu didn't stick around for long when he noticed girls heading towards their way. Their eyes was more focused on Reiji other than him; he was sure it was to ask Reiji for help on the lesson or homework. He quickly walked out the classroom doors and headed to the usual spot. He didn't want to listen to their gossips or their insults towards the poor. Nor did he want to interact with them.

"Reiji-sama, I didn't get the lesson, could you explain it to me."

"Reiji-sama, I need help with this problem."

"Me too!"

"Please melp me too!"

"Yes, it would be my pleasure. On this problem you..."

It was a complete lie. He did not want to help them, but their was no escape. In the name of the Sakamaki family it was his duty to act kind in front of people of the same social class as him. He would rather interact distance himself with such snotty stuck up nobles, but it was impossible for him to do. To put on an act in front of other aristocrats, he had to act cruel in front of the poor. If rumors got out that the sons of the Sakamaki family were to friendly with the poor, it would tarnish their family name.

"Hey, there was this guy who asked me out."

"How lucky..."

"But, he's poor."

"Gross."

"People like them are our servants, that's the only thing they're good for after all."

"You turned him down right?"

"Of course! Then he asks if we can be still be friends or something." Many poor but brave souls have had the courage to ask a rich girl out and would always get turned down. It went the same for the poor females as well.

"How stupid!"

Like Shu, Reiji didn't enjoy their gossips and insults that centered around the poor. He didn't show it through his expressions, but in the inside he was seething with rage. _The rich can not be friends with the poor. That's the only thing I agree on._

...

"Ah..." Shu blankly stared at the stairs. Crap. He forgot that there was a stairway to the rooftop. It was Reiji who would always give him a piggy-bank ride up the stairs, since he always claimed that he was too tired to walk up the stairs himself. He wondered if he should just spend his lunchtime on the first stair of the stairway. Turning around, Shu faced the scene of students chatting and walking around the garden.

"Ah Look! It's Shu-sama!"

Never mind.

The opportunity turned to dust rather quickly.

Shu sprinted up the torturous stairs as quickly as he could. Reaching the door, he quickly dug around in his pocket pants with his right hand and fetched out the key that gave him access to the rooftop. As he heard girlish voices coming closer, Shu quickly jammed the key into the keyhole and unlocked the door.

Entering the rooftop, he locked the door shut and let out a faint sigh. His ears had just been assaulted with unpleasant voices of his admirers—more like obsessed fangirls. Shu's ears perked up at the gentle breeze as he made his way towards the fence. As he got closer to the fence the chattering in the garden got louder. Tossing his school bag against the fence, he slumped onto the light grayish concrete floor. He took out his iPhone, which was already connected with black ear buds and plugged the ear buds into his ears.

Serene classical music filled Shu's ears, slowly lulling him to sleep.

"...Zzz."

* * *

The first few classes for Yui and Yuma had been quite pleasant, yet disturbing. Their teachers were extremely kind, however most of their classmates, namely the rich ones, had sent glares and looks of disgust towards them.

But thank god it was lunchtime.

For now, they didn't have deal with the stares.

Since their classes was close by, it had taken a matter of seconds for them to find each other. Standing in the hallway with their backs against the wall, they waited for the hallway to clear up a bit. The hallway was way too crowed at the moment. It was bustling with students who were rushing towards the cafeteria.

"Hey, Yui? You made lunch right?" Yuma looked down at Yui in doubt. He had a strong feeling that she didn't have the lunch boxes with her.

"Of course I did...," Yui's face paled at the question as she dropped her bag to the floor and rummaged around in her bag for lunch boxes,"...not." She let out a gloomy sigh, settling her school bag over her shoulder.

"Are serious..."

"Ah! Look on the bright side, Yuma. We have the cafeteria."

"...Did you forget that we have to pay for lunch, we don't have money with us right now."

"Well, at least there are free drinking fountains."

"You...Why are you being so optimistic!" Aggravated, Yuma's eyes twitched as he stretched her cheeks. She was way too optimistic for her own good. "Are you saying that we're having water for lunch?"

"I'm sowwy!" She grabbed both of his wrist, trying to remove his hands from her cheeks.

Once the hallway was filled with less people roaming the hallway they headed towards their right—in a random direction. As they walked, Yuma couldn't stop mentioning about lunch or food related stuff.

"I can't believe you forgot to pack lunch..."

At the mention of lunch their stomachs growled in hunger.

"Your making it worse Yuma!"

"Alright, alright, I'll stop mentioning about food."

Their stomachs growled at the mention of food once again.

"Yuma!"

"Geez...I wasn't evening doing it on purpose."

They blindly walked through the less crowded hallway, not sure of their exact location.

"Yuma where do you want to go?"

"I'm fine with anywhere."

"Then how about the garden? The villagers said that it's really huge and it has rainbow roses and black roses too!

"Seriously? Let's go!"

As the villagers had said, the school garden was humongous. They had never seen a garden this huge before. The garden in their village was puny compared to the one reflected in their astonished eyes.

Yui started to shift around and turned her head in all sorts of directions in search of something. Yuma raised a brow at her actions and expression.

"...Are you on your period?"

"...I-I just need to go to the restroom." Bright red color slowly crept its way up her cheeks as she mumbled out her answer to his question,"I might need to change the pad..."

"The fuck-I don't need to know that. We'll meet up at that stairway." Quickly spotting a stairway that lead to the rooftop, where a certain aristocrat had already overtook the place, he pointed at their meeting location.

"Okay."

As Yui went in search of a restroom, Yuma headed towards the stairway. As he headed for the stair ways, girls were surprisingly squealing over him. He also felt the love-struck stares from girls in the upper class. All the googly eyes he was receiving made the journey to the stairway longer than it was intended to be. _What is this? Why am I getting all these_ _stares for?_

Finally hidden away from all the stares, he walked up the stairs. Arriving at the door that was the entrance to the rooftop, he turned the knob.

Only to find out that the door was locked.

"Argh...looks like someone took this one already."

Finding out that the door was locked, he walked down the stairs and began searching for Yui. He had small a hunch that she didn't know where any of the restroom was at.

...

Yui did not know where she was at the moment. She didn't know what department she was at. Science department? History? She had no freaking clue. What she did know for certain was that she somehow ended up where most of the second year classes was located at. She aimlessly walked through the slightly empty hallway; there was a few second year students roaming around—mostly the rich ones.

As she contemplated on whether to ask the students for the directions to a restroom, the scene she had saw in the morning flashed back into her head. _...Maybe it's impossible to get along..._ She shook her head from left to right. _No, think positive Yui._ She finally made up her decision; she was going to ask. J _ust ask anyone._ _A_ _random person. Anyone._ Yui was deep in thought, not focusing on the road ahead of her. It caused her to bump into someone, namely Reiji Sakamaki. Thankfully she landed on her knees instead of her bottom.

Notebooks and papers sprawled out onto the floor. A few bystanders let out loud gasps and whispers.

"Ah! I'm really sorry," Yui apologized. She quickly dumped her bag on the floor and started to clean up the mess she made. _Why are they being so chatty right now?_ With knees on the floor, she piled up a few notebooks and papers into a neat tower. With the tidy stack of notebooks and papers in her hands, she stood up. Her kind gentle pink eyes met a teen with a pair of sharp piercing red eyes and black-purplish hair. _Perhaps I can ask this person where the bathroom is._

Girls circled around the teen with red eyes.

"Reiji-sama your notebooks are dirty!"

"Are you okay Reiji-sama?"

 _Reiji-sama? An aristocrat?_ Yui pink eyes stayed gently and friendly. _No way. It's too early to jump to conclusions._ However, as more and more girls surrounded the teen, her eyes filled with a twinge of horror. She was terrified, yet small part of her wanted to ask him where the restroom was because she really needed to find the bathroom right this instance. Maybe he would be kind enough to tell her the way, but her mouth would not move. Though she needed the directions badly, her lips could not move.

"I'm fine, please don't worry." Breaking the circle, Reiji approached her. He sent her a somewhat genuine smile; a small smile. When Reiji had heard about the two first year students causing a ruckus in the morning, he was interested in them. He wondered if the girl he was currently face to face with was the one who had said such an absurd thing in the morning.

His smile dropped a bit when he noticed the look of fear in her eyes and her trembling form. His interest in the two new first year students dropped as fast as a concrete brick. _As always, they're all afraid of me._ _It seems that nothing enthralling will happen._ "Thank you for picking up my notebooks." The tone of his voice was sharp, like a knife cutting thin air. It was not anywhere near sincere.

"What is Reiji-sama saying? Shouldn't he punish her?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to hurt girls?"

"Maybe he likes to be involved with the lower-class?"

"Now that you mention it…"

"Don't you think it's strange that the Sakamaki brothers are getting a bit too friendly with the poor?"

"Last year Shu-sama and Reiji helped a low-class freshman."

"They are definitely getting to friendly with them."

Reiji had to do something quick if he didn't want such contagious rumors about the Sakamaki family to spread.

Yui thought she could handle a situations such as the the situation she was currently in, but boy was she wrong. She was utterly petrified by his presence. It was a good thing Yuma wasn't there with her. If he was, a needless fight would break out.

Though terrified by the aristocrat's presence, Yui forced herself to move. With hands and arms quaking in terror, she handed the neat pile to Reiji. Instead of accepting the belongings, he knocked his neat pile of notebooks out of Yui's hands. "My bad, please pick it up."

Once again, papers and notebooks were scattered onto the floor.

"Yes..." Yui was back on her knees, collecting the fallen papers and notebooks once again.

"Reiji-sama...They're scary..."

"...Scary..."

"Serves her right."

"She needs a more harsher punishment...Don't you think?"

As Yui reached for the last notebook with her hand, a black shoe stepped onto the back of her hand. Light pain seared her right hand, producing a slightly pained expression on her face. She felt as though her knuckles were cracking. She felt as though her bones were snapping. It was merely her imagination but she truly felt the pain. With fear bubbling in her voice she asked,"Could you please remove your foot?"

"I am truly sorry." Reiji muttered a sincere apology under his breath.

Yui wasn't supposed to hear the apology, but she heard it. Having heard his apology, her fear lessened a bit. Her eyes widened at the black-purplish haired teen's apology, she didn't expect him to apologize. _This person seems kind._ _I wonder if we'll be able to be..._ Her thoughts was cut off when pain, harsher than the one she had felt a moment ago, made her cry out in agony. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and her face was contorted in pain, yet she formed a small smile with her lips. _...friends._

Instead of removing his foot like he was asked to. Reiji stepped even harder. "You...Who gave you permission to touch my property. I most certainly do not remember giving you that permission." He faked a prideful smirk with forged arrogance in his voice as he continued his torture. "How dare a commoner like you lay your hands on my properties." The atmosphere around him was more superior than ever. He started to twist his shoe, as if crushing a small bug on the ground.

The number of bystanders grew larger. Students pointed and laughed, enjoying the scene laying out before them.

...

Inside the teachers lounge, teachers lounged around in comfy chairs and couches. Though all teachers in the school were either poor, rich or middle class, they didn't give a damn about social class. Unlike most of the students in the school, they get along very well.

"It's really noisy in the math department."

"I hope no one gets hurt too badly."

"It's sad that we can't even stop the bullying ourselves."

"Right. We'll get fired if we did."

"Sometimes those spoiled aristocrats really get on my nerves."

"Ah. Have you heard about those two first year kids? I can't believe they stood up against an aristocrat."

"Yes. I think one of the kids said something about friends."

"I think they're interesting. I am planning to offer them jobs as servants for my sons." A blonde woman with blue eyes spoke.

"Eh! Sakamaki sensei?"

"Huh? Is there a problem with that?" The blonde hair woman had a straight-face.

"No, but if it's a plan to get the rich and the poor students to get along...it'll be futile. Also...wouldn't it sully the Sakamaki family...that your sons are getting along with the lower class?"

"It won't be a problem at all. I'm sure those two first year kids will interest my sons very much."

...

Yuma finally caught sight of his platinum blonde haired friend. His brown eyes was meant with an unsightly scene. "You bastard, stop!"

At the sound of Yuma's rough furious voice, Reiji stopped his torture. Lifting his foot off Yui's hand, he faced Yuma. His red eyes faced a pair of brown ones that was filled with red hot fury. It was rather surprising, no one had ever risen up against them or against other aristocrats who bullied the poor for laughs.

Yuma pushed and shoved, storming his way through the large crowd. No one could stop his rampage; he was seething, pissed with all his heart. Within him was a blazing hot ball of anger, like the scorching hot sun in summer. Yuma raised his right hard, preparing to swing his fist towards the teen with red eyes and back-purplish hair. Unfortunately for Yuma, his fist did not contact the teen's face like he wanted to. Before his fist could even contact the opponent, Yuma was kicked in the back, causing him fall flat onto the floor.

"What the—Argh hah...ow." The attacker brought his foot down on Yuma's back, stomping harshly.

"How noisy..."

The one to knock Yuma down onto the ground was none other than Shu Sakamaki.

"Fucking bastard I'm—"Shu brought his foot onto Yuma's cheek, stomping harshly. He slowly brought his foot up, about to stomp once again.

Yuma squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for another stomp from the blonde aristocrat. It never came. Yuma glanced up, Yui's worried expression was in his view. He urgently shouted at her. "Yui what are you doing! Get away from that guy!"

She ignored her friend's demand.

"Please stop! Yuma-kun didn't do anything wrong! So, please stop!" Yui's voice was filled with urgency and desperateness as she pleaded. Her grip on the blonde aristocrat's arm stopped him from further harming Yuma. She was scared, not of the blonde hair teen, but scared that Yuma would get severely injured. She did not want to see her companion beaten up to a pulp. She did not want to see his bloody or bruised up back or face. That was the only thought floating around in her head.

With an impassive face, Shu roughly pushed her aside with his free arm. He stared at Yui with apathetic blue eyes. "Annoying..."

Before things could escalate any further, the bell rang. The ringing of the bell sent students scattering for their classes, just like what the morning bell had done. It was quick how the bell cleared the hallway in a matter of seconds. The only students left in the hallway was Yui and Yuma.

"Yuma-kun, are you alright." Yui scrambled towards her friend, lending him her uninjured hand. Yuma didn't take her hand, instead he got up by himself.

"Tch. Those fucking aristocrats—ow!" He winced in pain, as he soothed his back pain.

"Let's hurry and get you to the nurse."

"Hah? Me? I don't need to go!"

His words fell on deaf ears as Yui grabbed his arm with her uninjured hand and dragged him towards the health office. Her lips formed a teasing smile, trying to lighten up the mood. "You'll look like an old man forever, if you don't go."

At her insult, his eyes twitched in slight irritation. _How is she able to joke around right now?_ He glanced at her face; despite the teasing smile on her features, worry was clearly etched on her face. _She's such_ _a worrywart._ He glanced at her right hand; he knew it was injured, but it seemed Yui had long forgotten about it. He knew she was worried about him, though he preferred she would just worry about he own self for once. What _an idiot. I'm not the only one who's injured._

"What is it? You're not saying anything." Her voice was also filled with worry.

"..."

"Hey, at least say something!" Yui tightly gripped his arm in worry, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Ow. Geez, you don't have to hold so tight." Letting out a breath of relief, she lessened her grip.

"Hey Yuma-kun. Please don't get into anymore fights..." Yui made an abrupt stop. Her to deepened her frown. Uneasiness filled her stomach,"...it's not good to pick a fight with them..."

Wanting to lighten the mood up, Yuma joked around.

"...I won't promise you, but I'll try to get into less fights. So stop worrying, old granny. Those wrinkles on your forehead make you look old."

"How rude! With that back pain of yours, you're the one who looks old!" She gripped his arm harder and continued dragging him towards where she thought the health office.

"It was that aristocrat's fault!"

"You're the one who got into a fight!"

"Hey, do you even know where the health office is? That's the wrong way."

"...Why didn't you say something earlier! Stupid, stupid, Yuma!" She commented as her red cheeks inflated with annoyance.

In response all she got was laughter from her companion.

She couldn't help but laugh along with him.

Though, an uneasy feeling still consumed her.


	5. Job Offer

**Job Offer**

* * *

It was currently Yui's and Yuma's last class of the day. They picked their seats that were in the far back of the classroom. Sitting next to the windows, it gave them a wonderful view of the garden. Yui sat behind Yuma, being in the last seat of the last row in the class.

It wasn't exactly the start of class yet and the teacher wasn't present. Plus, they had an extra ten minutes for class to actually begin. Students used those extra ten minutes to converse with their friends.

Yuma adjusted himself in his seat, facing outside the window with his legs sticking out the aisle. He placed his elbow on Yui's desk, and propped his left cheek in his left palm. The incident at lunch lingered in his mind.

"Those two aristocrats really piss me off..." Yuma stared out the window, with a hard gaze. His brows furrowed in an irritated manner.

There seemed to be a dark aura surrounding Yuma so Yui wanted to lighten up the mood around him by teasing him. "You know the wrinkles on your forehead? They make you look old…."

"Hah? I don't have-I am not!" Yuma faced Yui. She was cheerfully laughing at him. Even though she had her hand injured during lunch, she was awfully optimistic. It seemed that she didn't even harbor any kind of hatred or vengeance towards her attacker.

Yuma softened up a bit at her cheerful face.

Yui brought her laugh down to a small chuckle. With a gentle smile, she commented,"Your wrinkles are all gone! That's good."

A look of disapproval and a frown was then plastered on Yuma's features. With his right eye twitching in anger, Yuma lightly pinched and stretched Yui's cheeks. "You-This is what you get for calling me old!"

"Eh?"

It took a few seconds for Yui to register what had just happened. She grabbed his wrist, attempting to shove his hands away from her cheeks. "I'm sowwy!"

"I can't understand you! Speak more clearly," Yuma mocked.

The bell rung, stopping all students from further interacting with each other. Chattering slowly came to a stop. Everyone faced the front. A paper name tag was placed on the teachers desk. The two words spelled out on the white paper was Beatrix Sakamaki.

Hushed whispers began to run amok in the classroom. Yui and Yuma wondered what was the cause of the whispers. Was it the teacher? Since they sat in the far back of the classroom they didn't exactly get a good look at the name tag. All they could spot out was the name Beatrix on the name tag. They wondered what was so special about this particular teacher.

"Ah! To be a student of Sakamaki sensei! It's the best day of my life!"

"Maybe we'll get to see Shu-sama and Reiji-sama pop in once in awhile too!"

"I heard from the second and third years that she favors the poor or something like that."

"Really? I don't buy it."

Yui furrowed her brows in a thoughtful manner. She had heard the name Sakamaki during her encounter with the teen with red eyes who crushed her right hand. Even though it had been pretty noisy in the hallway, she remembered a name. _Reiji... Reiji Sakamaki was it?_ Was it that the teacher and the red eyed teen, that she had an encounter with, somehow related to each other? She shook her head in dismissal. _T_ _o have a same last name as a teacher's, maybe it's just a coincidence._

"Quiet down please." The teacher's gentle yet commanding voice cut off the whispers. She sent a small gentle smile to the class. Unnoticed by Yui and Yuma, their teacher's gaze lingered on them for a few seconds before turning her back to the class and writing her name on the white board.

"Please address me as Sakamaki sensei."

And so, class began. Just like in Yuma's and Yui's previous classes, the teacher just talked about classroom rules and whatnot.

Their last class of the day, with Beatrix Sakamaki, was going splendid.

"Well then, let's get on to the introductions."

Well, that was until they had to introduce themselves to the class. Not so splendid anymore.

One after another, Yui eagerly listened to her classmate's introductions. She noticed something odd. In all their introductions they never left out where they lived. All the students that already made their introduction lived within the city. None lived in villages.

Her brows furrowed. _Then all of them_ _a_ _r_ _e_ _either middle class or aristocrats…_

It was odd. In all her other classes, there was an equal group of students who were aristocrats, middle class and poor. But in this class, it wasn't. Most of the class was comprised of aristocrats and a small batch of middle class students. In this class Yui and Yuma were the only two students who were poor.

Yui didn't worry much about the middle class students. Some seemed nice, while some seemed to act like they were aristocrats themselves. She was much more worried about the aristocrats students. She was afraid that Yuma might needlessly pick a fight against them. _Geez…I hope Yuma doesn't get into any_ _fights._

"Two more introductions to go. Then...next person..." The teacher let out a fake cough, trying to wake the sleeping Yuma.

With his back was leaned comfortably against his chair with his arms dangling by his sides, Yuma having the best time of his life. He was having the most pleasant nap in a classroom. _No one in the right mind would do that on the first day of school!_ Yui mentally face palmed at Yuma's outrageous act.

"He looks kind of hot and cute!"

"Right!"

"Too bad he's poor."

"Huh? Really?"

"Haven't you hear..."

"Seriously Yuma? It's the last class of the first day of school and you're taking a nap." Yui muttered under her breath. Without anyone noticing, she swiftly leaned forward and tapped her friend's shoulder, attempting to wake him up from his peaceful sleep.

"Psst! Yuma-kun wake up,"she whispered.

"Five more minutes Yui….Zzz.."

"Are you sleep talking?"

"Zzz..."

"Your plants are dying, Yuma. They're being murdered by rats again."

"Zzz..."

She blinked her eyes rapidly in disbelief and confusion. "Huh? No way...I was sure it was going to work."

"Class please quiet down a bit."

However, the teacher's words fell on deaf ears. More chatter ensued.

"How can you just sleep in class like this..." Yui muttered, having had snapped out of her confused state. She slumped back in her seat, just enough for her feet to reach the back of Yuma's ankles. She lightly swung her right foot from left to right, causing her to softly strike Yuma's right ankle.

"Zzz..."

Yui muttered under her breath,"...Do I have to hit harder?" She really didn't want, but there was no other way she could think of right now.

She swung her foot to her left, preparing to strike his right angle again.

"Though he's poor, he's really good-looking."

"Even if he is poor, I can make him rich and we could date."

"I'd want to date him too."

Yui puffed her cheeks in irritation. She didn't know why, but the comments made her have weird feelings. One feeling was irritation. The second was jealousy. _Jealous...I'm not jealous at all. Not one bit._ With her jealousy, irritation and the bold comments combined, it caused her to strike Yuma's ankle more stronger than she had intended to.

Slightly jerking in his seat, Yuma muttered,"Ow! Geez...you didn't have to kick so hard..."

Frowning, she was about to purposely kick him in the ankles when the teacher's voice interrupted.

"Finally awake now?" The blonde haired teacher questioned.

"Yes. I'm sorry for sleeping in class."

Girlish giggles and squeals filled the classroom at the sound of Yuma's voice.

With a look of annoyance in Yui's pink eyes, Yui puffed her cheeks in annoyance once again.

"Please introduce yourselves."

"I'm Yuma. I live in the village. Nice to meet you all or something."

"Now then. Last person,"she smiled at Yui.

"I-I'm Yui. I-I live in the village too. I-I hope we can all be good friends."

"Okay that's all for today. We have ten minutes left of class, you can do whatever you want."

The whole class engaged into chatters. Yuma faced Yui, his eyes twitching in irritation. "You didn't have to kick so fucking hard."

"It was the only way!"

"Only way my ass! Kick softer at least!"

Ten minutes past. The ringing of the school bell, sent students scattering home.

"Ah! Yuma and Yui could you please stay around for a bit."

"Yes!"

Yuma and Yui both sat back down in their seats.

"I wonder what she needs us for...right Yuma?"

"Yeah..." Having had heard that the teacher was an aristocrat, Yuma wasn't too fond of the blonde-haired teacher.

They waited and waited for the students to scatter out of the classroom. Looking around, they saw their classmates as well as students from other classes coming up to the teacher and acting all friendly and such. It seemed she was a well-liked teacher among the school.

Once it was just the three of them. Beatrix Sakamaki closed the classroom door, and took her seat at her desk. She gestured for them to come towards her.

They quickly go up their seats, and stood before their teacher.

"You two—actually, let me just get straight to the point." The blued eyed teacher placed her elbows on her desk and propped chin on the back of her hands. "Would you two be interested in being servants for my sons."

"Eh!" They blinked their eyes rapidly, surprised by their teacher's strange offer.

"Oh, and of course you'll get paid as well."

"Tch, rejected. I don't want anything to do with fucking aristocrats."

"Yuma, you're being rude—"

"Let's go!" Yuma abruptly grabbed Yui's arm, dragging her along with him towards the exit.

Consumed in rage, Yuma didn't exactly watch where he was going.

"Yuma, watch where—"

"Ow!" Thankfully no one fell on the floor. He released his grip on Yui and clutched his forehead. "That fucking hurts. Watch where you're going dammit."

Lazy, apathetic, and sleepy blues eyes stared at the brown haired teen. "Me? You're the one who wasn't..."

"Now you're blaming me?"

"How annoying..."

"I'm really sorry for my friend's rudeness! Please forgive him!" Yui stood in front of Yuma, bowing her head to the blonde teen.

"Hah? Just whose side are you on?"

"Getting into unnecessary fights is no good! Just apologize already," Yui scolded softly, keeping her head bowed.

"In a way it is also my brother's fault so please forgive him as well." A familiar voice, to Yui, came from behind the apathetic blonde teen.

Reiji stepped in front of his brother and bowed back, dismissing the thought of people eavesdropping on their conversation. At the sight of the two first years students, Reiji wanted to apologize to them about the lunchtime incident. However, it wasn't the right time to be apologizing for the lunchtime incident right now.

"Your brother isn't at fault at all! My friend's the one at fault here! He always picks a fight for no reason and things like that. He's a real idiot sometimes!"

"My brother is the one at fault. He does nothing but laze around all day. If his fangirls were flocking around him, I can assure you he would not have the slightest energy to escape."

Shu's and Yuma's eyes twitched with irritation. A threatening aura formed around them. Their own companions was straight-out insulting them! They both placed a hand on their companion's head, forcing them to stop bowing and face the ceiling.

"Hey Yui, want to repeat what you just said about me?"

"Hey Reiji...can hear the sounds of your valuable tableware collections cracking into tiny bits and pieces? I can hear it loud and clear."

Their threatening voices gave Yui and Reiji chills.

"What a perfect timing," Beatrix interrupted.

They all faced the blonde haired woman. To Yui and Yuma, she looked like a female version of Shu. But personality wise, Beatrix was the complete opposite of Shu.

"Reiji, Shu please meet your servants. They will be your servants starting Saturday."

"I don't really care..."

"Yes, I understand mother."

"Wait a minute! We didn't agree to that stupid offer!"

"If you two are not in front of the school gates on Saturday between eight o clock to three o clock, I will not keep bugging you or anything like that. Please think about it. Shu, Reiji, please walk them home."

"Mother?"

"If anyone asks just tell them they're your servants."

"Yes."

"Shu, you better walk them them with Reiji. Okay?"

"Yes..."

"Tch, let's go Yui."

With a strong grip on her right hand, Yui felt herself being dragged by Yuma. She couldn't address the job offer right now. After all, Yuma was pissed off at the offer. She kept quiet, giving her friend space to cool off a bit.

For Yui, she was indifferent about the offer. The money would be good, but it would be somewhat frightening to serve an aristocrat. What if they were to make a mistake? Would they be punished?

Despite what the two aristocrats had done to them, Yui didn't mind being their servants. _We_ _can_ _be_ _come good_ _friends..._

…

Reiji and Shu followed their mother's order. They trailed behind the two teens far enough to not be considered as stalkers, but close enough for Yui and Yuma to be in their vision.

They were honestly sure Yuma and Yui wouldn't accept the offer. For the two aristocrat it didn't matter whether they accepted the offer or not. If this was their mother's plan of getting friendly with people below them, it was useless. The brown-haired teen certainly seemed to despise them the most, while the blonde haired teen seemed terrified of them.

The journey through the hallways was refreshing, yet uncanny. There wasn't any signs of other students besides the four of them. It was odd. And where exactly was Yuma and Yui heading t? Why are they heading towards to garden?

Truth be told Yuma and Yui still didn't know where the exit was.

As the four teens got closer to the garden, loud chattering could be heard.

"Reiji..."

"How could we forget..."

"Yuma, do you hear that?"

"Yeah, what's going on? It's coming from the garden."

"Eh?"

Letting go of Yui's arm, he followed the noisy chatter.

"W-wait, wait for me!"

Yui ran after him. She was also curious as to what was happening. The chattering led the two teens into the center of the school garden. A disturbing scene laid out before them.

It looked as though all the students was gathered in the garden.

In the center of the garden was a large group of students surrounding another group of students in the middle.

"Hey! Hurry and take off those blazers and vest! Only aristocrats can wear them!"

"That's right! It helps us identify each other quickly, hurry up!"

"Take it off already!"

Some did while some did not. Those who had already took off their blazer or vest got to escape from the large crowd and head home. Others, who continued to resist the aristocrats, stayed in the middle of the circle being insulted.

"This is horrible..."

"What the fuck is this..."

They couldn't believe their eyes. The scene playing out right before their eyes sparked anger in Yuma and worry in Yui.

"They consider this a sort of festival. I'm sure you have seen a few students without their black blazer and vest on. That indicates they are poor or from the middle class. Aristocrats always do something like this to the first year students on the first day of school. That was what I was told."

Reiji and Shu appeared behind them, fixating their eyes at the crowd with impassive expressions. The two aristocrats hid their emotions well. They hid their real feelings behind emotionless masks. They hid their scowls of disapproval behind fake smirks, just to make themselves look more cruel and detestable in front of Yui and Yuma.

But they could not hide the looks in their eyes.

They could not hide the anger in their eyes.

Yui and Yuma glanced at them. Though the two aristocrats were putting on emotionless masks, they could see sparks of sympathy, concern and even anger in their eyes. Yuma didn't dislike the look in Reiji's and Shu's eyes. _Those_ two _don't seem to_ _o_ _ba_ _d...those looks on their eyes are good._

Yui thought differently. _Those eyes looks like Yuma's eyes when he's angry._ _It's scary. But, t_ _hose three would be good friends indeed._

A pained scream made the four teens cringe with unease. More painful screaming made the two aristocrats avert their eyes from the large crowd, their eyes now fixated the roses, bushes and trees.

"Tch, if you two aren't stopping this stupid fest, I will." Yuma took off his black blazer. Along with his school bag, he tossed the clothing on the ground and headed towards the large crowd.

"Yuma what are—Wait up!"

Yui hastily took off her black blazer and vest, wrinkling her bow and white dress shirt in the process. Since she was in such a hurry, she messily stuffed the clothing in her school bag. Leaving her bag slumped up against Yuma's, she hurried off after him.

"You better not get into a fight!"

…

Teachers that were close to the garden, stared at the commotion throughout the window from their classrooms. Other teachers that were far away from the garden, gathered into other classrooms that were near the garden.

"Please knock before you barge into my—"

More teachers barged in.

"Pff. There's no need for that Sakamaki sensei."

"That's right! No need for that!"

"Ah! It's that time again isn't it..."

"Yeah..."

"Sucks that we can't do anything about it..."

"Sakamaki sensei...you said you had a plan make them get along right?"

"Of course I do."

"Eh? Wow! Sakamaki sensei is really amazing!"

"Ah! Look it's those two first years from the morning, and lunchtime!"

…

Yuma pushed and shoved his way through the large stuffy crowd. Yui, who was clutching the back of his white dress shirt, followed closely behind him.

"Hey, you guys," Yuma shouted.

They finally made their way towards the middle.

Everyone ceased their actions. It was a completely silent garden, if it weren't for the sound of the eerie breeze and the sounds of birds chirping.

"Just hurry up and take it off! You guys won't have to stay here and get beaten up like this!"

All eyes was on Yuma. They were all surprised with his words. Some had witnessed his rage during lunch, while some had heard rumors about him. He wasn't the type who would submit to someone so willingly. Yui was also surprised with his words. In a situation like this, she thought her brown haired friend would just straight-out beat the crap out of all the aristocrats. His actions greatly surprised her.

"Are you sick Yuma? Do you have a fever? A cold?"

"What-You said so yourself didn't you!"

"Huh?"

"To not get into a fight!"

"Oh yeah..."

Yuma turned his attention back to the crowd and commented with a blank face,"Besides, it doesn't really matter right? It's not like they're stripping you naked."

The girls and a few boys in the middle of the large circle blushed.

"Yuma, you dummy! Choose you words carefully!" Yui couldn't help but face-palm at her friend's choice of words.

"Ha? I can say it however I want! You got a problem with my wording?"

"No duh, of course I do..."

She didn't intend for Yuma to hear her.

"I fucking heard that!"

Middle class and poor students smiled and chuckled at the interactions between Yuma and Yui. Yuma and Yui lightened up the atmosphere in the middle of the circle, filling the quiet garden with laughter and smiles.

"I guess your right."

"Looks like we shouldn't have resisted too much."

"Yep."

Aristocrats started to lose interest and scattered on home. The large circle dispersed. Students went on home like nothing happened.

"Look! You made them uncomfortable with your vulgar words!"

"Hah? Me? You idiot, that's not my fault!"

Yuma pinched and stretched Yui's cheeks in annoyance.

Hiding behind a large tree with a thick wide tree trunk was Shu and Reiji. They stared at the lively interaction between the two friends with interest in their eyes.

"Shu, what is your view on those two? Are they interesting?"

"You're...asking annoying questions..."

…

Yui and Yuma were glad they stopped the sickening festival. But right now, they were frustrated. Just where in the world was that exit or entrance to the school.

"God dammit Yui! I thought you knew where it was!"

"We'll find it eventually so don't worry about it!"

They had already asked a few teachers for directions, but they couldn't remember them at all. They ditched the guidance that were given to them and aimlessly walked around in search of a large black gate.

"Hey Yuma?"

"What is it?"

"The job offer..what do you think of it now?"

"I guess the money would be good." Thinking back to the look of anger the two aristocrats portrayed in their eyes, Yuma mumbled to himself,"Those guys don't seem too bad."

"I thought you said you hated those two."

"Shut the—How the fuck did you hear me."

It took them about one grueling hour to find the exit.

Needless to say, they arrived home with their feet burning like hell.


	6. Square One

**Square One**

* * *

Yui was seated by one of the five camp fires, glancing up at the night sky, admiring the stars and bright moon. It was radiant and gorgeous as always.

Once a month, on a random day, villagers would gather around an odd colored tree in the center of the village and have dinner together. And today was that random day. Well, not really. The villagers just wanted to celebrate Yuma's and Yui's first day of high school; out of all the kids in the villages, they were the eldest. This didn't count as that random day. This month they would have two fest in total.

"Is it really okay? I feel guilty. I didn't bring any food." She poked around at the food with a wooden fork.

"Don't worry!"

"Right, don't worry about it."

"Eat to your hearts content!"

"And get drunk to your hearts content!"

"Dear! They're not allowed to drink yet!"

Chatter and laughter filled her ears. Adults chattered about adult matters, babies cried and whined as toddlers ran amok. Though it was loud and lively, it was peaceful and refreshing at the same time. The villagers were not blood related to her but they felt like a big warm family to her.

"Where's Yuma?" Yui twist and turned her head in different directions in search of her friend.

"Near the lake. Is he still afraid of fire," An elderly questioned with worry laced in her voice. "Maybe

"No, it's alight. He's probably near the lake relaxing his feet with water since we walked a lot today." Yui reassured the elderly woman. Standing up from the log she had been sitting on, Yui announced," I'll bring him dinner."

Yui loaded her plate with more food before heading off to the lake.

…

"Did you eat yet? Here," Yui took a seat beside Yuma and set the plate between each other. Leaning her back against the tree trunk, she gazed at the lake in front of her. The moon's reflection was quite bright, but the real deal was way brighter than its reflection. Chatter and laughter from the villagers could be heard from a distance.

"Thanks..." He placed the plate on his lap, sluggishly poking around at the food with the wooden fork.

"Are you still afraid of fire?"

"I told you before didn't I? I'm over it."

Despite saying that, Yuma was still actually afraid of fire.

"But, the memory doesn't go away does it?" She averted her eyes from the moon's reflection on the lake, gazing up at the twinkling stars in the night sky instead.

Yui knew Yuma's past and he knew hers. During their child hood, flames had consumed their parents and had planted an extreme seed of hate for the higher class in Yuma. They remembered the flames separating them from their parents, the effort their parents had put into calming the flames down, the reassurance that the upper class would come and help and the charred houses surrounding them. They remembered the day as clear as the moon that was currently shinning upon them now.

Yuma said nothing.

The atmosphere dampened, wrapping them both in gloomy aura.

Yui had the urge to cheer her friend up, but she doubted she would be successful at it. Regardless of her doubts, she attempted anyways. With eyes glued at sparkling dots in the dark sky, she uncomfortably pulled at the grass around her and inhaled. "...Y-your parents are probably up in heaven, looking over you and telling you to smile right now. S-so cheer up Yuma."

A few more minutes of awkward silence went by. Her fingernails dug themselves into the dirt in embarrassment, cheeks coated in red.

Lively laughter, coming from Yuma, reached her ears, causing the corners of her lips curl up. She felt Yuma's hand ruffling her hair in a rough yet gentle manner, messing up her blonde hair.

"Yeah, sure. They're probably up in heaven right now..."

Yui took a peek at Yuma and caught the sight of a small smile on his face. Even if it was just a bit, she was glad she could cheer her friend up.

"Why are you eating with your hands!"

"Aren't you using the fork?"

"Go get your own fork! Did you even wash your hands yet," Yui exclaimed.

"Geez...quit your nagging already," he retorted as he washed his hands with lake water.

...

Brown eyes groggily snapped opened, seeing light from under the blankets. Miraculously Yuma had woken up all by himself without the help of Yui, which he found odd. He hastily shoved the blanket off of him, and sat up in his bed. Looking around, he scanned the place for Yui. "What...Am I late or something..."

Taking a look in the kitchen, he caught sight of Yui's bag slumped up against the wall near the kitchen door and his share of breakfast on the table.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be trying to wake me up right now?"

Outside, he found her sitting in front of an old tree-the odd colored tree.

"But you're awake right now," Yui commented as she kept her gaze on the different shades of green leaves on the branches. "You don't need me waking you up anymore, isn't that great?"

"Hey, Yui..."

Her eyes were now closed with a tight smile presented on her lips.

Yuma sighed, taking a seat next to her. He wonder what bothered her now. Whenever she had something stuck on her mind she would sit her butt on the ground in front of the odd colored tree.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm asking my mother for advice."

"Advice on what?"

"The job. You don't want-"

"You...," Yuma exasperatedly sighed,"...can do whatever you want. I don't care what your answer is, I'll follow it."

Pink eyes cracked wide open, blinking in disbelief.

"Eh! Really?"

"Yeah...," He gazed up at the tree, admiring the different shades of green. The tree reminded him, brought him back to the first time he met Yui. He clearly remembered that he didn't enjoy her company in the past.

"Hey Yuma,Yuma..."

...

 _"Mom, Dad, where are we going? If it's the church, I'm staying home. I won't go," the little boy commented and made a disgusted face as he resisted his mom's and dad's pushing._

 _"Don't worry, we're not...ugh," the kid's parents groaned, trying to push their son out the door but the kid held his ground._

 _"Lies! I don't believe you guys!"_

 _"Just this once, please listen to us Yuma." His mother stopped shoving, sighing in exhaustion. "We just want to introduce you a friend of mine, that's all. She has a child around your age too you know."_

 _After more squabbling with his parents he finally agreed to go with them, wondering about the child of the friend of his parents he was going to meet._

 _"Huh? You don't believe in god,"_ _the little girl asked as she tilted her head._ _A small pout was plastered the girl's features, brows furrowed in a thoughtful manner. "But your parents believe in god. How come you don't?"_

 _"Because I just don't! You have a problem with that?" He barked in rage. From afar he heard his mother shout out a warning._

 _"Play nicely with Yui-chan you hear me Yuma!"_

 _He didn't mean to lash out on purpose. After all, it was her fault for provoking him though he knew she honestly didn't mean to fuel him with anger._

 _"I was wondering..."_

 _"Tch..."_

 _Yuma averted his eyes from the blonde and landed on his parents and the girl's mother. They were tending to the village's large garden, planting, watering and digging._

 _"Hey, did you know that when people die they all go to this place called heaven," Yui randomly stated as she helped water the plants._

 _"I don't believe in that crap." Following the blonde's example, Yuma grabbed a watering pot and helped out. He was beginning to get more irked by the girl's presence by the second. It was like she was pressuring him into believing in-_

 _"I'm just saying it. You don't have to believe in it if you don't want to." Yui cracked a wide smile. "If you don't believe in god, then what do you believe in? There must be something."_

 _"Nothing."_

 _"Eh?" She frowned in disappointment. "What do you mean nothing? Do you believe that grass exist?"_

 _"Of course I do, that's a fact!"_

 _"Ah ha! So you do believe in something!"_

 _"Ha?"_

...

Now that Yuma thought about it, they never really got along in the first place but somehow they were now best friends. "I guess trying to get along with them wouldn't be so bad...," he mumbled to himself.

"Yuma!"

He found his school uniform draped around him while his bag was on the ground beside him.

"We're going to be actually late if we don't go now!"

"When the hell did you change? You were in your pajamas a couple of minutes ago!"

"Hurry and change Yuma!"

"You expect me to change outside! What's wrong with you!"

"But we'll be late for real this time!"

"Warn me ahead of time god dammit!"

* * *

"Where should we go Yuma?"

Thankfully Yui didn't forget to bring lunch today. Though this time around, searching for a place to eat was the problem at hand. Practically every single lunch table was occupied, as well as the benches and fountain in the garden. But Yuma had a perfect spot in mind.

"I got a perfect place." Yuma lead Yui to the doors that lead to the rooftop, the rooftop which he had bee unable to open yesterday. Yuma twisted the door knob to check if it was locked. "Thought so..."

Unannounced, Yuma took Yui's school bag and searched through it.

"What are you doing!"

"Good thing you always have this on you. I can't believe you still kept it." Yuma took a flower hairpin out of Yui's bag. He had given her the flower hairpin for her birthday when they were young. It fascinated him how she kept it in such a mint condition.

Turning his attention to the knob, Yuma inserted the pin into the key hole and jiggled it around. With his other free hand, he twisted the knob. However, the door stayed locked.

"Ha…?" Yuma tried again, furiously twisting the knob in frustration. "…"

"Let me try." Yui gave it her best shot at trying to unlock the door. She was so immersed that she didn't hear the squeals of girls or the footsteps making it's way up stairs.

"Yui! Hey are you listening!"

She wasn't listening at all, too focused to listen or respond.

"You two..." Reiji clearly wasn't expecting them to be here.

With the exception of clanking noises from Yui, silence took its place between them.

"...I give up. What were you saying Yuma?" She turned around, facing an awkward sight. Yuma's gaze was on the floor, finding it interesting for some odd reason. Reiji was staring at the wall, with Shu on his back snoozing away without a care in the world.

"Um—" Yui wanted to clear the atmosphere around them when squeals and chatter coming from Reiji's and Shu's fangirls interrupted her.

"I want to see Reiji and Shu!"

"But we shouldn't bother them when it's lunchtime."

"Just a tiny peek!"

Yuma, Yui and Reiji had terrified expressions plastered on their faces. And Shu? He was still freaking sleeping with a peaceful expression printed on his face.

"You guys have the key don't you? Hurry up and open the fucking door!"

"Yuma! Even if you're mad, watch your language!"

"Shu, hurry and get the key out."

"Zzz..."

Reiji sighed.

"Are you fucking with me? Wake the hell up you sleepy bastard!" Yuma tried to restrained himself from slapping the blonde aristocrat awake, knowing full well that Yui wouldn't approve of his actions. He tried but couldn't restrain himself one bit.

"What do we—Yuma, that's not nice!"

Slapping didn't work but at least Yuma got back at Shu for the stomping he had to go through.

As footsteps and squealing got closer and louder, Reiji carelessly dumped Shu to the floor and hastily searched through his brother's school bag. "Please help me look for the key as well."

"But...isn't it rude to—"

"Who gives a damn? It's an emergency Yui!"

Yuma pulled Yui towards the agitated Reiji and immediately joined him in the search of the key, frantically searching for the key that would save them all.

"...why are you guys looking through my bag..."

"The fucking key! You dumbass!"

"Oh..."

…

Yui and Yuma sighed in relief, slumping to the ground with their backs against the fence. It would have caused more unwanted attention towards Yui and Yuma if others were to see them with the most admired aristocrats and the richest in the school.

From Yui's peripheral vision, the view of the garden caught her attention.

"Look at the view Yuma! It's gorgeous isn't it?" Yui shoved her friend's shoulder excitedly. The view from the rooftop was indeed a gorgeous site to see. Though red roses were the most prominent, the garden still looked colorful in Yui's eyes. It looked like a rainbow to her, like the tree with different shades of green in the center of her village.

"They should have planted more vegetables and fruits. All I see are roses."

"But, it's really pretty isn't it?"

"I guess."

Since Yuma and Yui had stolen Reiji's and Shu's usual spot, the two aristocrats took their seats next to the door. Their backs rested against concrete walls. The surface was much more comfortable than the fence but they didn't have the view of the garden.

Surprisingly Shu wasn't listening to music. Along with Reiji, he was listening to the conversation between Yuma and Yui. Truth be told he wanted to join in on the conversation. There wasn't anyone else on the rooftop, just the four of them. There wasn't anyone else judging him on who he interacted with.

Jumping in shouldn't be a problem for the noble at all.

"..." Shu opened his mouth a bit, but quickly closed it shut. It seemed easy when he thought about it but putting it to action was more difficult than it seemed. He pursed his lips, contemplating on whether or not her should join in.

"Will you two be accepting the job?"

Reiji's question cut the atmosphere like knife a sharp knife.

Yui and Yuma averted their eyes from the gorgeous view, uncomfortably facing the two aristocrats. They stared at them for a couple of awkward seconds and hastily averted their eyes from the aristocrats, finding the concrete ground to be much more interesting.

Awkward silence enveloped them for a few more minutes.

"Tch, what's it to you? Does it really matter to you guys?"

"Yuma, you don't have to be rude!"

"I can be rude whenever I want to be!"

"How annoying...you could have just kept silent..."

"Hah? Your brother was the one who fuck—"

Yuma apologize!"

"Shu, you apologize too. That is not the manners of a noble."

"Like hell I'll apologize!"

"How annoying..."

Another uncomfortable silence blanketed the four teens. For the rest of the lunch period, they ate in uncomfortable and tense silence.

No one peeped out a single word.


	7. Getting Along

**Getting Along**

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up Yuma." Pink eyes were wide awake, sparkling brightly like the stars and moon at night.

Kneeling on the bed, Yui shook the sleepy teen with all her might. Usually, the messy brown haired teen would ignore her and keep on sleeping. But, today he didn't. It was Saturday, and like Yui, he was quite excited about today, somewhat excited.

Yuma groaned at Yui's rough shoving. "I get it! Stop shaking me! I'm awake!"

"Oh, sorry." Yui stopped her unnecessary shaking. Instead of changing in their school uniform, they stayed dressed in their comfortable clothing they were wearing right now. Their definition of comfy clothes were white shirts that were slightly ripped up on the bottom. Yui wore brown shorts that ended an inch or two above her knees, while Yuma wore brown pants.

"Ah…seriously…" Yuma sat up in bed and rubbed his shoulder where Yui had shoved harshly.

"Let's go!" Both hands latched onto Yuma's arm, trying to pull him out of bed.

Yuma took in Yui's appearance. She looked like she had just woke up from sleep. Her blonde hair was all tousled up and she had slightly bad breath. "You didn't even brush your teeth or comb your hair yet did you..."

"Oh yea...I forgot all about that..." The blonde was just so enthusiastic about the job.

"Who even..."

…

It was eight o' clock. A limo was parked in front of the school entrance gates. Inside the passenger seats were Reiji and Shu. Sitting across from Shu, Reiji would avert his eyes from the book in his hands and glance at his brother from time to time. Reiji was anxious for Yui's and Yuma's arrival. He was so sure that they wouldn't arrive, but he hoped for their arrival.

With ear buds flooding music into his ears, Shu was seated across of his brother. Somewhat taking a small nap, his eyes was closed shut. His head was slumping towards his shoulder in a sleepy manner. Though his actions didn't show it, like Reiji, he was also anxious for Yui's and Yuma's arrival as well.

Reiji sighed. "Really now...sleeping in a car when your supposed to be waiting for the arrival of those two..."

With one eye open, the blonde glance at Reiji. "Quit nagging...I'm anxious as you are for their arrival..."

"...I never said I was anxious."

Closing his eyes, Shu couldn't pass on the opportunity of poking fun at his brother. "Sure. Whatever you say Reiji...Zzz..."

Unexpectedly, light red made way on the purple head's cheeks.

"Eh? Master Reiji?" The driver was surprise to see a flustered Reiji exit the limo.

"I will wait for them outside the car as well."

As they waited, Reiji could see two figures appearing from the woods. When he got a glance of blonde wavy hair, he remembered what he had done to her during their first encounter.

"...I never did get to apologize about that..."

"Did you say something Master Reiji?"

"No. Nothing at all."

…

The two teens walk through the dirt path that lead to the front of the school, kicking at rocks and dirt along the way.

"Doesn't this mean we'll be going in the city? This should be fun, right?"

"Sure..."

It wasn't that it was going to be their first time in the city. They went there a bunch of times but only for errands. Errands such as buying groceries and things that they needed. They would just quickly go buy their things and come straight back home.

Yuma and Yui never would go into the city just for the fun of it, because most of the times they go on errands, they would always feel the sharp judging gaze directed on them. It wasn't a fun place for them both, but Yui would always be optimistic whenever it was necessary to go into the city.

Yui squinted off into the distance, she could see a black vehicle and two people waiting in front of it. "I see...a limo!"

"This is going to be an awkward drive."

"Don't say that Yuma. At least be a bit more positive."

"Yay, this is going to be an awkward drive," he repeated again but in a sarcastic tone.

…

As Yuma had commented, it was indeed an awkward drive. No words were exchanged throughout the ride.

Reiji, Yuma and Yui was seated across Shu. Since the seats were nice and long, there was plenty of distance set between Reiji and the two soon to be servants. Yui's eyes was focused on the view outside the window from across her. She admired the tall and huge buildings, while Yuma's attention was uncomfortably on the floor of the car.

Not counting Shu's soft snoring, it was silent for the most part. "Zzz..."

Reiji's couldn't keep his gaze away from the blonde girl's right hand. It was where he had coldly stomped on during their first meeting. The lunchtime incident from the first day of school plagued his mind. Right now, more than anything, he had the urge to apologize for what he and his brother had done.

"I apologize for that incident during the first day of school..."

Yuma didn't know what to say. Too think that an aristocrat would actually apologize.

"It's okay, we're over that already. Right Yuma?" Yui gently elbowed him in the rib.

"..."

This time she elbowed him harder.

"Ow! Geez...I heard you the first time Yui!" With his eyes still glued to the floor, he mumbled,"Yeah, don't worry about it. We're both over that already..."

Reiji let the corners of his lips curl up into a tiny smile. It felt like an unknown weight that had been weighing down on him was lifted off.

Lazy blue eyes opened and glanced at Yuma. "I'm also sorry for that incident...Zzz..."

Yuma's eyes wondered away from the floor and onto Shu. He raised his brows in question. "Huh? Was he awake the whole time?"

Shu opened one eye, glaring at Yuma. "Be quiet…Zzz..."

"Fucking faker! Open your damn eyes if you're not actually sleeping!"

"Zzz..."

"I know you heard me! Hey! Listen to me damn it!"

"Loudmouth...so noisy...Zzz..."

Yui and surprisingly Reiji, let out soft laughter.

Yuma glared at the laughing duo. "What are you guys laughing at!"

Laughter only got louder.

"Seriously, it's not funny! Why are you two laughing!"

Soon, laughter slowly died out and was replaced with silence.

This time it wasn't an awkward or uncomfortable silence like yesterday during lunchtime.

It was a pleasant and peaceful one.

* * *

"A-Amazing..."

"Damn this place is huge."

Reiji and Shu showed them around the mansion. It was overwhelming for them. As they were being showed around the mansion, Yui and Yuma just gawked. Their jaws were never closed shut throughout the whole tour.

Reiji glanced at their expressions and softly chuckled. "I hope you two will get used to this."

Blue eyes glanced at their gaping faces and joked around. "...If you don't keep your mouths shut, you two might eat flies by accident."

"I agree with Shu."

They really couldn't keep their mouths shut. It was just to amazing. They had never seen the inside of a mansion before. Sure they've seen seen the exterior of mansions a bunch of times, but never had they seen the interior until today.

"Eh! Flies?" Yui quickly covered her mouth with her hands.

"Like I give a shit. This place is fucking huge."

Yui gave Yuma a look of disapproval.

"What? Don't look at me like that. I'm using those words in a good way."

The kitchen, living room, guest room, Reiji and Shu had showed them every inch of the mansion. Currently they were heading towards their last destination. The rose garden.

"Mother, they're here."

The four teens entered the garden full of red roses and a few other different colored roses, making Yui and Yuma gawk even more.

The blonde haired woman was seated in a chair, at a small circle table with an umbrella shielding the woman from the sun's rays.

"Yui, Yuma. I glad you came." Beatrix gestured the four teens to take a seat. She poured each one of them a cup of tea, receiving thanks. "You two will be working on the weekends, which includes holidays and breaks, from around ten o' clock in the morning to around eight o' clock at night. Your job starts today. That is all." Smiling at the two new servants, the woman stood up from her seat. "Are there any questions?"

With that overwhelming look on Yui's face, it was clear that she had a ton of questions she wanted to ask. "What about training? We don't know the places that well yet. What about cooking? And, and—"

Yuma stretched her cheek in boredom. "Stop worrying so much."

"That's right. Don't worry. Besides, you're not just servants you're personal servants. Stick to them like glue okay? Your job is just to do whatever they ask of you." The blonde woman reassured and chuckled at Yui. "Anything else that—"

"Beatrix-sama. There's a visitor looking for you."

"Again? Please excuse me." The blonde woman gave a small sigh of irritation and walked back into the mansion.

"...eh..."

Yuma kept on stretching Yui's cheek. "Stop worrying already."

"How about a small practice," Reiji suggested.

Yui's eyes sparkled. "That would be great."

"What's wrong with you Yui! We have fifteen left before the real job starts!"

"How about...massaging our shoulders," Shu suggested.

Reiji glanced at Shu with raised eyebrows. "I don't want a—"

"Easy!" Yuma got up from his seat and massaged Reiji's shoulders, making Reiji cringe in pain.

"Yuma, you're gripping too hard!"

"Oh crap, sorry—Hey, aren't you gripping too hard too?" Yuma glanced at Shu's pained face.

"Sorry! I'm really sorry!"

…

Yuma made a face of disgust. "This is what you guys do on the weekends? If you're done with homework why study even more?"

Yuma and Yui stood behind the sofa, watching Reiji and Shu study. The two aristocrats were seated on the sofa, with books and papers scattered around on the sofa and floor.

"We have a test on Monday." Reiji responded. His eyes was focused on the papers in his hands.

Shu leaned his head back, facing Yui and Yuma. "You can sit on the other chairs you know."

They shook their heads in response, declining the offer.

"Didn't you have personal servants before? Don't you guys always order other servants around or something?"

Lazy blue eyes glanced at Yuma for a few seconds, then returned his attention back to the papers. "No, this is the first time we've had personal servants."

"R-Really? T-Then what should we do?" Yui really didn't know what to feel at the moment. She was glad that she didn't really have to do much, but guilty that she didn't have much to do.

Shu flipped through a text book and yawned. "Just keep us company or something like that. Whatever mother had informed you..."

Reiji looked up from his paper and furrowed his brows in a thoughtful manner. "If I remember correctly, stick to us like glue was what she said."

Shu nodded. "Yeah...that..."

"Is it really okay to be not doing anything?"

"Then...get us water Yui, Yuma..."

Yui was surprised to hear Shu call their names. "Yes master!"

Reiji and Shu flinched.

"Please don't call us that. Just call us by our names," Reiji stated. They had insisted that to the other servants when they were young as well. But even up until today, the servants insisted on calling them master. They couldn't do anything about it.

Surprised, Yui and Yuma just nodded.

"Wait a minute. We still don't know the place that well."

"Yuma is right.."

"I guess there's no choice then. Let's go on another tour." Reiji stood up from his seat. "Shu, are you coming too?"

"I don't want to walk...carry me Reiji..."

Glancing at Reiji, Yui spotted an irked expression on his face. "I-I'll carry him," Yui volunteered, lending Shu her back. The moment she felt Shu's weight on her back she slumped to the floor with Shu glomping her. "Heavy..." she mumbled.

"If you know that you can't carry him then don't even try." Annoyed at the sight, Yuma lifted Shu off Yui's back and onto his shoulder. "Let's get going!"

Reiji and Yui trailed behind them.

Reiji had definitely detected a hint of jealousy in Yuma's voice.

* * *

"My sons have no interest in marriage right now. I apologize." No, not at all. Beatrix Sakamaki wasn't sorry at all. She would always get visitors like these once a week. And if she was lucky, once a month.

Girls from the school were just so infatuated with her sons.

"I'm very sorry to have troubled you." The woman nodded in understanding, escorting her two whiny daughters out the door.

"No, it's alright. I will escort you out."

* * *

Four stomachs growled in unison.

"It's a good thing we're in the kitchen right now."

"There are leftovers in the fridge." Reiji took out four dishes from the fridge.

The four teens digged in, filling their stomachs up with delicious food.

"Hey! What the hell! Stop that." Yuma swatted Shu's hand away from his plate.

"Sharing is caring Yuma." Yui defended.

"Shu, mind your manners. Here, take some of mine."

"Shu, you can have some of mine too."

"Tch, sharing is caring my ass." Yuma's words contradicted his actions as he gave some of his portion to Shu.


	8. Bonding

**Bonding**

* * *

"Shopping," Yuma and Yui questioned in unison.

"Yes, that is correct. Where would you two like to go today?"

It was Sunday, in the afternoon. In the passenger seats of the limo, Yuma and Yui was surprisingly seated next to Reiji. Unlike yesterday there wasn't such a huge gap between them.

"Shopping..." Yuma and Yui muttered to themselves, thinking of places they'd like to go. They never explore the city before. They never explored the park, the different types of stores, nor the restaurants in the city. The only place they would always go to was a couple of grocery stores. That was all.

A thought suddenly rushed up Yui's mind, making her quickly blinked her eyes. "Um...why are you asking us?"

"Does it matter? Just hurry up and pick..." The words came from the apathetic blonde who was lying on the seats across from them. Although ear buds occupied his ears, he was still able to hear the conversation.

For some reason Shu got on Yuma's nerves. "You really—"

Yui quickly interjected, "How about a plant store?"

Yuma's irritation quickly flew out the window. His eyes sparkled at Yui's suggestion. "Yes! A plant store!"

Blue eyes gazed at Yuma with wonder. "You don't look like the type to like plants..."

Sparkling eyes was replaced with a look of annoyance. "You have a problem with that?"

"No...that's not it...it's nice to know that you like plants..." Shu closed his eyes and relaxed.

Yuma regretted being rough with him. Trying to patch things up he asked, "How about you, what do you like?"

"Zzz..."

Instead of the blonde answering, Reiji answered for him. "He likes classical music."

"Really? That's nice to know."

"Reiji...who said you could answer for me..."

Eyes sparkling with interest, Yui questioned, "How about you Reiji?"

"I'd rather not—"

"He likes collecting table-ware, like teacup sets and stuff like that."

"Shu, who said you could answer for me."

"That's nice to know." Yui brightly smiled.

Reiji questioned, "How about you Yui."

"I like to cook."

Yuma nodded. "Yep, and when we were little her cooking was terrible."

"Huh? You said it was delicious."

"Did I?"

"How mean Yuma!"

"Don't worry Yui, I'm sure your cooking now isn't as bad as it was before," Reiji comforted.

"You know, she tries these weird combinations of food like using mustard and ketchup as salad dressings. That one was terrible."

Reiji and Shu gagged at the thought of using ketchup or mustard as salad dressings.

"Y-Yuma!"

…

"Master Reiji, master Shu, we're here," The drive announced.

Yuma was definitely excited. Anything that included plants interested him. Stepping out of the limo, he was encountered with stares and whispers.

"Are they new servants?"

"They look pretty young."

"Aren't they around the age of Reiji and Shu?"

Instead of walking beside Shu and Reiji, Yuma and Yui trailed behind them. The two aristocrat attracted many attention, especially from the females.

"They look annoyed." Yuma commented, when squeals coming from females made Reiji and Shu cringe. He glance at Yui, who had an irritated expression plastered on her face. "Hey, what's with that look on your face Yui?"

"Huh? It's nothing."

Apparently the females weren't only focused on Reiji and Shu. Yui spotted a few girls looking at Yuma with dreamy eyes. She didn't know why, but it irritated her.

Unlike exiting the limo, entering the store didn't attract much attention. The store displayed many plants on the inside as well as on the outside. There were plenty of roses, baby seedlings, seeds and there was even a few small trees inside the store.

"What do you want? We'll buy it for you." Beatrix had persuaded her sons to have fun with their personal servants, telling them that it was just to get comfortable with them. She even persuaded her sons to buy something for Yui and Yuma. Usually her sons would spend the weekend studying, they never really went out on the weekend.

"No, It's fine," Yui declined.

"I want apple seeds."

"Are you sure you don't want anything Yui?"

Yui nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Yui likes roses. The color doesn't matter."

Flustered, Yui flailed her arms around. "Don't just say—I-I really don't want anything Reiji, Shu."

After buying the apple seeds, Reiji and Shu sent Yuma and Yui in the limo. They stayed seated inside the limo waiting for Reiji and Shu to return. Reiji and Shu had explained that they needed to buy something really quickly.

"I wonder what they're buying." Yuma played around with the apple seed packet in his hands.

Yui glanced at Yuma. He was definitely happy about the apple seeds. A wide smile occupied his features. Seeing Yuma's wide smile, she stop her lips from forming a smile.

"What's with that smile. It's creepy me out Yui."

"Eh?" She touched the corners of her mouth. With puffed up cheeks, she quickly averted her gaze from Yuma and stared out the window from across of her. "How mean…"

...

Reiji and Shu finally came back. They came back with yellow flowers occupying their hands.

"Here." Reiji gave a bouquet of yellow flowers to Yui, while Shu gave Yuma his.

"Wow...they're really pretty. Thank you!"

"Tch. Is this a joke? Is it going to spray water on me or something?"

Yui kicked Yuma's ankle for his rude behavior.

"Kick softer," Yuma muttered as he rubbed his ankle in an attempt to soothe the pain.

"Yuma means he's thankful for the flowers."

"Huh? I never—" Yuma felt Yui's foot near his ankle again, making him rethink his choice words. "Yeah, thanks..."

Shu and Reiji stared a their servants with amusement. "Your welcome."

* * *

"Wait what? I have to fucking change his clothes!"

It was around six thirty at the moment. The four teens were in the rose garden, having a little tea party. Reiji explained the difficulty of taking care of Shu.

Reiji sipped his tea and gestured at Shu's appearance. Shu was dressed in his school uniform. "As you can see, sometimes he doesn't change out of his school uniform during the weekends since he's too lazy to do it. And Yui can't be the one to change his clothes."

"You have to be kidding me..."

"You can do it Yuma."

"Zzz..." Shu was sleeping on the grass. Well, sort of sleeping. His eyes was closed, but he could clearly hear everything they were saying.

"He's really a pain to take care of. Please take care of him well."

"Huh..."

"Don't worry Yuma, I'm sure it'll be fun!"

Yui gave him words of encouragement while Reiji wasn't too encouraging.

…

"I have to shower him now?" Yuma exclaimed in irritation.

It was around seven, close to dinnertime.

Reiji nodded. "A bath will do. Good luck with Shu." Reiji entered his own bathroom to take a shower.

Yuma stared at Shu who lied on Reiji's bed. "Great...this is really great..."

Instead of carrying Shu on his shoulder, Yuma dragged him.

"That's rude Yuma..."

"Who cares."

Yuma continued dragging the lazy ass teen with Yui trailing behind.

"Hey Yui, where's his room..."

"Um...over there maybe..." Yui pointed in a random directions of where she thought the room may be.

"What are you doing…that's the wrong way..."

"You were awake the whole time weren't you. Why the hell didn't you say anything earlier!"

"Does it matter..."

Yuma sighed. "Just tell us where to go."

With Shu's help they arrived at his room. Instead of taking a shower, Shu just lied on the floor.

"Aren't you supposed to shower?"

"...No..."

"..."

Yuma and Yui prepared a bath for Shu and argued about the water temperature. Yuma wanted the water to be extra cold, ice cold, but Yui kept changing the water temperature to normal.

"I could have frozen his ass off."

"That's a terrible thing to say..."

Yui helped Yuma drag Shu towards the bathroom. Even thought it wouldn't help much, at least she was doing something. She dragged Shu's other ankle and dragged. Once in the bathroom they tried to wake the blonde teen up.

"Hey, wake up and take a bath." Yuma slapped his cheeks.

"Please wake up—don't do that Yuma!"

"Zzz..."

"You're kidding me right...Yui get out and shut the door."

Following his instructions, Yui exited the bathroom and shut the door. "Are you sure you don't need help?"

She heard rustling of clothes on the other side.

"Yeah."

Then she heard Yuma turning on the faucet.

"Yuma..."

"Oh shit, you heard that?" She heard him frantically turning off the faucet. "I totally wasn't turning on the cold water..."

Yui just shook her head in disapproval.

* * *

"Yuma, Yui, join us for dinner."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

Reiji and Shu were surprised to see their personal servants enter the dinning room. Reiji and Shu were already seated at the long table. Their personal servants took their seats across from them while Beatrix took her seat at the head of the table.

"Let's start dinner shall we?"

In a blink of an eye, servants rushed in with dished in their hands. With fluid and grace they swiftly place dinner on the table. The three aristocrats began to eat, but Yui and Yuma just looked at the food that had been placed on the table a few seconds ago. In their eyes, the food was sparkling with brightness.

Reiji glanced at the two servants with an amused expression. "Go ahead and eat."

"Gaping like that...flies will definitely enter your mouths..." Shu pointed at Yui's and Yuma's gaping faces his fork. An amused smile was plastered on his lips.

"Does it look unappetizing to you," Beatrix questioned, chuckling at the expressions on their face.

"No! That's not it at all!"

"It's looks really tasty." Nodding her head furiously, Yui agreed with Yuma.

With that they began eating, savoring the taste.

Beatrix smiled "Yui, Yuma what do you—"

"Beatrix-sama."

"Again? Girls are so persistent," Beatrix muttered under her breath.

Reiji looked at his mother in question. "Mother?"

"Continue without me."

With that said, Beatrix exited the dinning room.

"She sounds busy…" Yui stared at the door that the blonde woman exited from.

"Our father is the one who's really busy. We don't get to see him that often." Along with Yui, Reiji stared at the door.

With food still in his mouth, Yuma questioned, "Is that so?"

Reiji nodded. He furrowed his brows in wonder. "I wonder who's she talking with."

"Reiji...I think it's the fangirls again..."

"Shu, please refrain from his that term when its the weekends."


	9. Jealous

**Jealous**

* * *

Monday should be the worst day of the week but waking up to the smell of delicious breakfast made it less terrible for Yuma.

"It...smells good..." Yuma sniffed the air in a sleepy state. Waking up to the smell of breakfast was the most pleasant thing ever. Following the aroma with his sense of smell, he unconsciously rolled off his bed. Though he was now lying on the floor in pain, he continued sniffing the delicious smell of breakfast. "Ow..."

Yui peeked in the bedroom with a fork in hand. "It's a good thing that you sleep at the bottom. Good morning."

"Morning..." He went into the bathroom to do his morning routine of brushing his teeth and such. Once finished with his morning routine, he entered the kitchen and spotted two familiar lunchboxes.

"What did you write in their lunch boxes," Yuma questioned with a mouthful of eggs in his mouth.

"Nothing yet. Do you want to write or draw something on it? The sauce is on the table." Having already finished her breakfast, Yui was washing up by the sink.

"Sure." Yuma opened the lids of the lunchboxes made for Reiji and Shu. With the bottle of sauce in his hands, he placed it above one of the lunchbox and drew vegetables on it.

Last night they had made lunch for Reiji and Shu. It was sort of a repayment for what the aristocrats had bought for them. Making them lunch was really the only thing they could think of.

"Here." Yuma handed her the bottle of sauce.

With the bottle in hand, Yui wrote the words thank you in the lunchboxes.

...

Reiji woke up to the feeling of heavy weight on his legs. Sitting up in his bed, he saw his brother napping on his legs. "Why are you sleeping here Shu..." Hearing no response from his brother, he shoved the blonde off his legs and onto the floor.

The blonde groaned in pain. "Why did you have to push me off your bed..."

"Hurry up and get dressed."

"But it's such a pain..." The blonde sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"You say that yet your getting up. "

"Shut it Reiji..."

"How very contradicting of you."

"Seriously, shut it Reiji..." Conveniently for Shu, a pillow was next to him. He picked it up and flung it straight into Reiji's face.

Red eyes twitched with irritation when the pillow flopped down to the floor with a thump.

Being quite observant, he noticed it wasn't his. Reiji glanced around his room and noticed all of his brothers belongings were in his room. Tossing the pillow back to Shu, he questioned," Why are all your things in my room."

"Someone's going to visit."

"The guest room will satisfy them."

"That's not it, it's mother's orders..."

"Why?"

Shu lazily shrugged his shoulders.

* * *

"Ugh..we're freaking early Yui!"

There were a few people roaming around in the hallways. Not everyone came early to school.

"So this is your classroom—Hey wait for me!" Yuma entered the unfamiliar classroom. He spotted a few girls staring at him with dreamy gazes as he looked around the class for Yui,"Okay...that's just creepy," he muttered to himself.

He took his eyes off of Yui's female classmates and looked for Yui. He spotted her in the middle of the classroom. Her head was nestled in her arms, taking a little nap. He was about to head towards Yui when the girls he had spotted looking at him with dreamy eyes a few minutes ago, surrounded him.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"You're my type."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Yui picked her head up at the chattering and instantly spotted Yuma being flocked my her classmates, all girls. She saw a few clutch his arms and really invade his personal which greatly confused her.

The girls were definitely aristocrats and she was sure they knew Yuma was poor, yet they squealed and fawned over him like he was Reiji or Shu. She stayed seated in her seat and watched.

"Sorry, but I think I have the wrong class." Yuma tried to separate himself from the girls, but they were persistent. They wouldn't let go of his arms.

"Eh! You're not in this class!"

"That's too bad."

"Hey, do you have a girlfriend? If not then..."

Yui just kept seated, observing the scene with unease as to how touchy the girls were with Yuma despite him not being an aristocrat. She really couldn't believe her eyes, the bizarre scene playing out before her. She regained back her composure when Yuma mouthed for help and quickly took action.

"Geez, took you long enough to help me."

"I wonder why those girls...I wonder why..."

"Beats me, but I kind of feel bad for Reiji and Shu now."

"Me too."

…

Lunchtime was paradise for the four teens.

They sat by the fence in a small circle. Yui was seated beside Yuma, facing Reiji and Shu. Yui glanced at her bag, which had been placed between Yuma and herself, from her peripheral vision as she ate her lunch. She was planning on giving Reiji and Shu the lunchboxes but she didn't know when would be the right time to hand it over to them.

So, Yuma was the one to give Reiji and Shu the wooden lunchboxes.

"These are for you guys." Yuma pushed the lunchboxes towards them.

"You two bought us flowers and the apple seeds and so thank you."

"Thank you."

Shu poked at the food, suspicious of Yui's cooking. "Thanks..."

"Don't worry, it's safe. She doesn't let other people eat her experiment if it's terrible.

"Why are you referring to my cooking as experiments..."

The view of the garden was truly gorgeous; Yui looked down on the view, she noticed the girls from her first class. The memory of them surrounding Yuma flashed in her mind, making her frown.

"Um...Reiji, Shu, would you believe me if I said girls, the rich ones, are interested in Yuma."

Reiji questioned, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, this morning..."

"Tch, they were annoying and kept clinging onto me." Yuma shuddered at the memory.

Shu explained,"Even though your not rich...they're just interested in you because of your looks. Whether your rich or poor, they'll flock around you if your looks suites them."

Reiji nodded in agreement to his brother's explanation. "At least they do not care of your social status."

"..." Yui wanted to agree with Reiji, but words wouldn't come out. She couldn't stand the thought of girls flocking around Yuma, squealing over him like he was Reiji or Shu. Since words wouldn't come out of, she forced it out. Seemingly acting cheerfull and positive.

"...I-Isn't g-great...that t-they don't care whether you're rich or poor!"

Jealousy in her pink eyes didn't go unnoticed by Reiji and Shu.

...

The last class of the day wasn't peaceful for Yui. In fact it was hell. While Beatrix Sakamaki was teaching, seated in front of her was Yuma being surrounded by girls. Even though the blonde teacher was really rich and all, she wasn't able to persuade the girls to sit back in their seats.

Yes, it irked the whole class and the teacher.

But it irked Yui the most.

Since she couldn't concentrate on the lesson, she just glared at the back of Yuma's head. This week, no scratch that. This whole school year was going to be hell for Yui.

"..." The bell signaling the end of school for the day finally rang, making Yui swiftly stand up and head out the door.

But she wasn't waiting alone.

Coincidentally, Shu happened to be nearby to keep her company. He seated himself on the floor beside Yui. Leaning his head back against the wall, he closed his eyes shut. With his legs sprawled out in front of him, he made a few people trip here and there.

Five minutes had past and Yuma had yet to come out.

Yui slid down to the floor, sitting beside Shu.

They could both hear the conversation between Yuma and his fangirls coming from inside the classroom.

Without opening his eyes, Shu questioned, "Jealous...Are you jealous?"

"Of course not! Not at—"

The voices withing the classroom interrupted her.

"Do you want to have a date? What about going to a park."

"Sorry, but I have to go."

"Eh! But—"

"See ya."

Yui exhaled, the breathe she had been holding in, in relief.

"Jealous...definitely jealous..."

Cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "I-I'm not! Not one bit!"

Yuma exited the classroom to see Shu and Yui and instantly felt queasy when he saw Yui's blushing face. He figured she was blushing because Shu or what Shu had said to her.

"Let's go Yui." He briskly walked past them, not even waiting for Yui to get up.

"W-Wait for me!"

Blue eyes watched Yui hastily scrambling up from the floor and rushing after Yuma.

"Huh...was he jealous?...Ah...whatever..."

"Shu! What are you doing here, don't stick out your legs or you'll trip someone."

"...So?..."

"Honesty..."

...

Rushing beside Yuma, she sensed an angry aura around him. She had no idea what made him so pissed. She was the one who was supposed to pissed after all; not him.

She couldn't help herself from prying, "Why are you mad…"

The blonde got no response from him.

Yui frowned. She tried once more. "Yuma—"

"Shut up." The tone, sharp and harsh, pissed off her. He would never use that kind of tone with her.

"..." She kept quiet until they were in the woods.

Then she stopped walking.

"Seriously Yuma! Why are you so angry?

Yuma stopped a few seconds before continuing walking. "Whatever..."

Yui muttered,"Hmph! Stupid Yuma...you can cook dinner, lunch and breakfast yourself..."

She still made dinner, lunch and breakfast for Yuma despite what she had said to herself, though, they wouldn't converse with each other nor look at one another as days went by.

Tuesday went by, Wednesday, Thursday, almost a week went by with them not acknowledging one another.

"What is wrong with you two?"

It was Friday and Reiji couldn't sit by and endure the problem any longer. Since Tuesday he and Shu had noticed Yui and Yuma weren't getting along as they usually did. Reiji thought they just needed a few days to resolve their problem, so he let them be. But now he just couldn't help but interfere.

He couldn't let them be and interfered.

"..."

The two teens wouldn't peep out anything when Reiji questioned them.

Usually silence was heaven for Shu, but the silence between the two servants that he considered as friends was hell. Speaking with a hint of irritation, but maintaining an overall tone of apathy, he said, "...You two are annoying when your this silent...Hurry and say something..."

"..." They still wouldn't budge.

Reiji sighed in exhaustion. "Honesty…unless you tell us the problem. Shu, do you know anything?"

"Now that you mention it...after school on Monday Yui was jealous because girls were all over Yuma and her face turn red when I said she was jealous…"

Yui's face instantly turned red. "I told you before Shu! I wasn't jealous!"

"...See?...like that…," Shu informed his brother as he pointed his chopsticks at Yui.

Yuma began laughing, uncontrollably shaking due to his laughter. "Jealous...you were jealous of other girls...?"

"I wasn't!"

Though just moments ago they had been silent as brick walls, they spoke to each other like there was no problem to begin with at all.

...

"Jewel High huh? Ore-sama can't believe this is where we'll be attending at. This school should just ban poor students already."

"Fufu~ I don't really care, as long as there are plenty of girls there."

"It doesn't matter to Teddy and I either as long as low-class trash don't bother Teddy and I."


	10. Meeting the Guests

**Meeting the Guests**

* * *

"You two aren't going by limo," Yui questioned.

Surprisingly both the aristocrats were walking home today. Walking on their own two feet on the dirt trail instead of taking the limo. Well, actually Reiji was the one walking while Shu was getting a piggy-bank ride from Reiji. But still, Yui and Yuma was surprised their masters didn't take the limo.

Red eyes glared at them. "Why are two so surprised? Are you implying something, that we're spoiled?"

"N-No, i-it's just that we thought you two would be taking the limo as always today." Yui chuckled nervously, looking anywhere but at red piercing eyes. Unconsciously she had implied the aristocrats were spoiled. She didn't mean to imply anything but she did think they were a bit spoiled the first time she met them.

"You can't blame us for thinking that way since you two always take the limo home," Yuma commented. "What's the catch?"

"Why is that you believe there is a motive behind this," Reiji responded back with a question, irritation lightly coated in his tone but he was more so irritated with Shu breathing on him. "We are merely switching up our routine a bit is all—Stop breathing on my neck Shu!"

"Is that so…," Yui giggled as Shu buried his face in his brother's back and held on tighter, somehow leading him into choking his brother. "Is this the first time walking home from school?" Since Reiji couldn't peep out a word, Shu nodded in response to the question.

"Hey! You're freaking suffocating him you idiot—Ugh, get off!" Yuma exclaimed, tearing Shu off of the poor breathless guy.

"Zzz..." Shu was now sprawled out on the dirt in a snow angel pose. In an unenthusiastic voice he asked,"Are we home yet..."

"Don't worry, we're almost there. We're almost in the city," Yui encouraged, pointing at the two bridges ahead of them. Staring at the two bridges Yui pointed to, Shu groaned in dismay. "Aren't you getting up Shu?"

"...No, I'm not walking."

Lifting Shu on his back, Yuma complained,"Are you serious? Why didn't you take the damn limo in the first place—Gah, you're a freaking pain!"

Reiji commented,"If he is a pain in the neck then leave him lying on the ground."

"Just lead the way already Reiji!"

Yui gazed at the scene with an impressible wide smile, glad that they were getting along well and softly murmured to herself,"You're so right mother. They're not as bad as rumors make them out to be."

As the four crossed over the bridge made of sturdy wood, a limo passed by and crossed over the larger bridge made of concrete beside them. Since the three teens ahead of her seemed to be in a dire need of a vehicle, Yui couldn't help but tease them a bit.

"Look there's a limo," Yui cheerfully pointed out, making the others glance over at the other bridge and making Reiji and Shu regret their decisions of not taking their own limo, gloomy atmospheres surrounded the both of them.

"Are you trying to make them even more miserable Yui?"

"T-That wasn't my intention—Mph!" Out of the blue a line paper blew in Yui's face. She took the object in her hands and examined the contents written on the unknown piece of paper. "Things...Places...Hmm, the handwriting is messy."

"Hey Yui don't lag behind!"

She quickly stuffed the paper in her school bag and responded,"Okay!"

...

"Did you really throw that paper away Ayato? I thought you wrote down important things on there," a reddish-brown haired teen questioned as he was texted on his phone, not really caring about the response.

In the same exact limo that Yui and the others had spotted, three siblings were seated in the back passenger seats of the limo. They weren't even wearing seat belts except for a purple-head teen and a stuffed teddy bear.

"I can always write it down on a new sheet—You're not even listening!"

"Sorry Ayato~ I'm texting someone very important right now~"

"Che, whatever," a red-head responded with clear annoyance in his tone and resumed looking through the window of the limo, taking in the unfamiliar scenery.

"Hey Teddy, look at this place. It feels much different from where we live," the purple-head teen unstrapped his teddy bear's seat belt and hoist it up in his arms, showing the stuff animal the scenery.

"Keh, I'm even more excited to check out that school. Jewel High was it?"

"What's wrong with you Ayato? He's weird isn't he Teddy," the child-like teen placed the stuffed toy back on the seat and strapped on the seat belt for his bear. "Trash attends that school and you're excite about it?"

"Fufu~ We've never actually met trash, besides the servants, that mother always tells us to stay away from. It can't be helped Ayato is excited to meet them."

"You're gross Ayato, don't you agree too Teddy?"

"Shut it—Driver, turn on the radio!"

...

"Hey, why is all of Shu's belonging in your room Reiji," Yui questioned as she examined the room. It seemed more packed than it usually was and usual it was Reiji's collection of tableware that made the room packed, but now it was the combination of both his tableware and Shu's belongings that made the room a bit more crowded.

"The guests are going to use Shu's room."

Yuma, finding it odd, inquired,"Don't you guys have a quest room? Isn't that what guest rooms are for?"

Reiji explained further,"Apparently mother says the guest rooms will not suffice the guests. Even mother is giving up her own bedroom and moving to the guest room for now."

"I take it that Reiji and Shu informed you to about the guests?" The door unexpectedly opened. Beatrix Sakamaki stood before them with servant uniforms in her hands. She handed the uniforms to Yui and Yuma. "I know I said you both don't need uniforms but please bear with it until our guests are gone."

Wondering who on earth the guests were, Reiji questioned, "Mother, who—"

"Reiji, Shu, come with me and show our guests around. They are already here."

Shu and Reiji left with their mother to show the guests while Yui and Yuma changed into their uniforms.

Not really knowing what to do, Yuma and Yui roamed around the garden while Reiji, Shu and Beatrix gave a tour. Since they weren't given any orders or tasks to do, they just chose to aimlessly roam around the large rose garden. As personal servants they had both thought there would be a ton of things to do but for now it seemed there wasn't much work to be done.

"I wonder why the guests room doesn't suit the guests. Have you ever tried out the guest rooms Yuma? The beds are really comfy!"

Yuma nodded. "Yep, it's really comfy—"

"Teddy," an unfamiliar purple-head teen shouted. With just one look at the teen Yui immediately felt the urge to glomp him. He had a child-like appearance, lissome, slender and thin. His purple eyes filled with a look of fury as he accusingly pointed his index finger at Yuma, blaming him,"Look what you did to Teddy, he's all dirty now!"

Yui picked up the teddy bear, handing the bear over to the rightful owner. With an apologetic smile set on her face, she apologized,"We're really sorry. We didn't..."

"I never said you could touch it! Now you soiled it even more!" In a flash the bear was quickly snatched back by the owner and gone was the purple-head teen.

"That kid has a nasty personality."

"He seems adorably and I kind of want to glomp him..."

...

"Wait up, where's Kanato?"

"Does it really matter Ayato? He'll pop up soon enough."

As if on cue, the purple-head teen known as Kanato returned from the rose garden with a teary expression. He look adorable as he cried despite his age. He looked as of her was a little child in tears. "T-Teddy got all soiled, hurry up fix him up!"

With an overconfident smirk plastered on a teen known as Ayato, he responded,"Yours truly will have it cleaned in a sec!"

Kanato's persona was quick to turn into a cold one. "Gross, I wasn't asking you. You're terrible at doing the laundry, the sewing and things like that. I was asking Reiji."

"You little—Take that back!"

"Aright, I will show your room first then."

Ayato ended up squabbling with Kanato as they both followed Reiji. The red-head teen was trying to snatch the teddy bear away and fix it up himself like he had claimed a few moments ago. As for Shu, he strayed away from the group and headed into the garden. Unbeknownst the blonde, the teen with reddish-brown hair followed after the blonde as well.

"How odd," the teen drawled out. "Kanato would never carelessly drop his teddy bear."

Out in the rose garden Shu spotted his two personal servants sitting on the grass near a line of rose bushes and headed straight to them. Uneasiness tormented since he met the guests that would be invading his room. What tormented him even more was the thought of them meeting his personal servants. With their nasty attitude towards lower class people they refer to as trash, he just couldn't let them near Yuma and Yui.

"Hey," Shu drawled and lied on the grass next to his servants, closing his eyes shut to be freed of his concerns. "Did you two upset one of the guests?"

He heard roses being picked from the bushes, then felt smooth rose petals lightly landing on his face. Feeling the rose petals on his face, he didn't find it obnoxious. It was the opposite of obnoxious. It rid the feeling of unease. It relaxed him and made him feel more at ease.

"We didn't mean to upset him. He seems really cute." He heard Yui's gentle voice and couldn't believe how open minded she was.

Then he heard Yuma's gruff voice and knew exactly how he felt. "We bumped into him while we were strolling around the garden. He's even more spoiled then you and Reiji."

"Huh," an unfamiliar voice drawled out. "As I thought...Fufu~ Kanato would never accidentally drop Teddy. It's very precious to him after all."

Shu stiffened at the voice. Instead of greeting the guest properly and kindly like Reiji would, he interrogated the guest with a cold and sharp voice. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with your brothers and Reiji?"

"How scary~ I was just investigating a bit besides...aren't those two supposed to be punished Master Shu," he taunted. "They did upset my precious little brother after all."

Shu kept the harsh and cold tone, superiority laced in his voice as he said,"I...Reiji never said you could wander about as you please."

"Nfu~ That wasn't the tone you used with your servants earlier. Shouldn't you be using that tone towards—"

"I apologize for his rudeness, I will see to it these two servants be punished."

Probably for the first time ever, Shu was glad to hear Reiji's voice.

"Shu, go find the others and show them around."

Then...he wasn't as glad and groaned in reply.

Begrudgingly he went to find the other two siblings showed them around, stating the obvious without much detail as Reiji would. "A you can see this is the living room."

...

Reiji had an urge of slamming the door shut but instead he gently closed it instead. His room was filled with valuable tableware after all and he didn't want to risk accidentally breaking any of them. Facing the door with an irked expression, he pinched the bridge of his nose, tightly shut his eyes and sighed in exasperation.

"Are okay Reiji," Yui cautiously questioned.

Yuma thought back to the purple-head teen he bumped into. "Ah, did...what's his name...Kanato—"

Yuma instantly froze and sweated buckets while Yui gulped when he felt a Reiji giving a death glare.

To Reiji, Kanato was the definite definition of the word obnoxious. A while ago, while showing the siblings their rooms, Kanato had the nerve to order him around like a butler, a servant. Even more obnoxiously, Kanato would shed in tears if he wouldn't obey. It would be a big hassle if he didn't execute the orders spouted out by the spoiled brat. He shook his head and heavily sighed once more, fending off unpleasant memories. "Never mind that...mother was looking for you two."

The servants both chuckle nervously, glad they didn't have to face his wrath which consisted of long lectures like the ones Shu usually receives.

A knocked on the door was heard. "Reiji, are you in there? Did you find them?"

Reiji opened the door, revealing two adults.

"These two are your sons' personal servant?" A lady with purple hair entered first, followed by Beatrix. The lady's sharp green eyes gazed at Yui and Yuma, scrutinizing, inspecting them as if they were bananas in a grocery store.

Yuma glared back and sassed,"Tch, you have a problem with that?"

Yui slightly trembled as the woman's gaze grew into a glare but at the same time Yui enthralled by the lady's appearance which caused her to unconsciously spout out words she didn't mean to say out loud. "You're really beautiful!"

Surprised looks were thrown in her direction by everyone in the room making her quickly slap both her hands over her mouth and apologize. "I'm sorry!"

The woman just smirked and murmured to herself,"So this is her daughter...I'm tempted to make her our servant."

Unfortunately Beatrix heard and decided to draw a line. "Please refrain from doing so Cordelia."

"What a scary look you have on your face Beatrix," the woman known as Cordelia taunted and chuckled in response. She then directed a crooked smile at Yui and inquired,"While we're staying here for awhile...look after my sons too will you?"

Being in a daze along with Reiji and Yuma, Yui just nodded in reply.

Beatrix directed a sharp icy gaze at Cordelia. "We're sorry for intruding you three. We'll be off now."

The door slammed shut, signifying their absences.

Under minutes of a silent daze, loud wailing from the room beside them and someone slamming the door wide opened jolted the trio back to earth.


	11. Meeting the Guests 2

**It's Spring Break for me! Yass, so damn(dam, like a beaver dam get it hahaha...okay that's not as funny as...) happy~! ^_^**

* * *

 **Meeting the Guests 2**

* * *

"I'm borrowing this room's bathroom." One of the guest known as Ayato appeared in nothing but a short and a change of clothing in his hands.

The abrupt appearance of the guest elicited a distressed squeal from Yui. At the sight of the guest with red-head, she slapped both her hands on her face to cover her eyes. She felt someone's gaze on her, very sure of herself that it was an odd look from the newcomer.

"What's with that maid of yours? Has she even been ordered to shower someone before?"

She felt her face lighting up in flames.

"These two are new here. They are still in training so I advise you to not order them around," she heard Reiji say.

"Are serious...anyways where's the bathroom?"

"What? You're not going to ask for some other servant to shower you," Yui heard Yuma quietly sass from beside her and kicked his foot for it.

Once she heard the bathroom door close shut, she uncovered her eyes, fell to the floor and onto her knees. She slapped her burning red cheeks in a daze and gave out a stressful sigh.

She was stunned but she didn't zone out entirely.

"Yui, is this your first time seeing a shirtless male? Surely you've seen Yuma shirtless a couple of times before?"

Yui frantically shook her head. She flopped on her stomach onto Reiji's bed, making her hair messy. "Gah, this is embarrassing—I'm sorry for using your bed Reiji."

"It's fine, you can stay in my room for now. I will be taking my shower in one of the guest room." With that said, Reiji took off.

"I'm off too—Wait up Reiji! I still don't remember where the guest rooms are!" Yuma followed after.

"W-wait," Yui picked herself up, now kneeling on the bed and facing the direction where Reiji and Yuma went with a distressed look on her face. She quietly muttered. "You're leaving me all alone with him?"

She faced the closed bathroom door and heaved a heavy sigh, waiting, listening to the bath faucet...turning off and on? Followed by that were curse words.

"Which one is the fucking hot water—Gah, cold! Why is the shower head turned on!"

In the bathtub, Ayato couldn't tell where in the heck the knob for the hot water was since none of the damn knobs would give him hot water. Also the shower head was on and he didn't know how to close that one off either. Back home, he would sometimes order a maid to shower him. "Dammit, this fucking—"

A knock on the door and voice called out to him. "Um...do you need help with something?"

He snarled. "What do you think!"

He heard the door open and saw a shadow of a fragile figure through the bath curtain. The thing that snapped him right out of his anger and into a daze was that the person wasn't walking straight. She was stumbling about as if she had a blindfold on...and out of curiosity he slid the curtain over, taking a peek to see if the girl was actually wearing a blindfold over her eyes. And...she was. How odd.

"Never mind, you can get out and tell me."

Heaving out a relieved sigh, the girl exited the room.

"If you're trying to close the shower head the knob should be near it." He followed her advise and looked up at the shower head, spotting a knob near it just as she said.

"Do you need any more help? Are you good with warm and cold water?"

"No, I'm fine now," He responded, relieved he didn't feel as intimidated as he did awhile ago. Though it was a mansion, which he also lives in one as well, the Sakamaki's mansion scared the crap out of him. It was way larger and fancier than his home. "Che, why does this place have to be frigging huge?"

"That's how my friend and I felt too when we first saw this place!" Seated on the bed, Yui caught his commented and giggled. She then raised a brow and questioned,"Hey, shouldn't you be use to a place such as this one?"

"I am! Che, don't look down on me bastard!"

Yui glared at the bathroom door a bit and retorted. "I'm not! I was just wondering."

Silence passed by for a couple of minutes, until Yui heard a response.

"This stupid mansion is bigger than mines that's why I'm not used to it. Have you freaking seen their bedrooms, the kitchen the frigging living room too! How bout you? Middle or Lower?"

"Huh? Why are you asking me that?" She disliked hearing such terms but then again she supposed it was acceptable.

"You basically said yours truly us an aristocrat didn't you? So what are you?"

"I live in a village."

"Oh, a lower class then." She didn't like the fact he was using such labels but he said the term in a neutral tone so she guessed that was okay. He didn't seem very intimidating. He seemed like a fun person to be around with. "That's kind of rare. Hey, did you know that the ones who usually serve the higher ups are the middle class?"

"Eh," Yui drawled out fascinatingly. "I never knew—Kya! Please close the door and quickly put your clothes on!"

"Che, just get use to it already!"

...

"Nfu~What are you doing lying around on our new bed for? Aren't you supposed to show us the way to the dinning room."

"Hurry up and take us to the dinning room! Your upsetting Teddy!"

"See~ You're upsetting Kanato, like your two little servants had done."

"You...now you want to play follow the leader?"

...

"Honestly Yuma, you still don't know where everything is?...Now I am getting worried about Yui."

"You should be more worried about Yui not me."

"Ugh...I am worried about both of you."

"Have a little faith in us will ya?"

...

Ayato and Yui got along quite well, almost as if they were the best of friends. After the showering, they talked and talked. The blonde felt no sense of anxiety while talking to him. He was a really fun person to be around with.

"I'll show you to the dinning room um..."

"It's Ayato! How do you not know my name!"

"You never told me! Besides, you don't know mine either."

"...Of course I do, it...it starts with an...um...A right?"

"No..."

* * *

As Reiji was seated in his usual seat in the dinning room, he observed the guests enter the room. He was mostly observing Laito and Kanato. It was odd but Ayato, though he looked like a trouble-maker, didn't bother him. It was Laito and Kanato that he was concerned about.

Shu was escorting Laito and Kanato to their seats while Yui was escorting Ayato to his. Yui and Ayato caught his attention though, making him glance at them.

"...Then, it starts with a T?"

"Aren't you just...going through the alphabet right now?"

"Well does it?"

They seem to get along just fine. However, on the other hand Shu wasn't getting along with the guests. He looked like he was in a bad mood, eyes glowing with annoyance as he took a seat beside him. As everyone else took their seats, he announced," Mother won't be joining us for dinner."

"Eh~ Really? Our mother isn't either."

"Isn't that wonderful Teddy? You can finally eat with us," Kanato smiled as he sat the teddy bear on a nearby chair.

"Eh~ So they're allowed to eat with you guys?" Reiji followed Laito's gaze. He was directing the question to Shu but his brother didn't respond and poked at his food. No one was eating their food. They just stared at whatever that interested them or poked at the dinner. "Hey, do other people know about this?"

"I'm not hungry..." The sound of chair legs scraping against the floor signaled Shu's leave.

Shu was a big help, a really big help.

"Yuma, please bring him his dinner." He had packed Shu's plate with a shit ton of vegetables, that the veggies took shape of a crooked triangle. It was revenge for leaving him to fend off Laito and Kanato but at the same time this was good for Shu. Veggies are healthy for one's diet after all. "And make sure he finishes it."

He was left to deal with Laito and Kanato. Ayato wasn't much of a bother since he got along with Yui very well. Dinner was mostly filled with silence no one really conversed with each other except for Ayato and Yui.

...

"Where is he? Tch..."

Yuma wondered around searching for Shu while holding the plate full of veggies. He found it hilarious that the blonde male didn't like vegetables. He was gonna enjoy shoving veggies down his throat.

"Kidding me? This was where you were?" He found Shu in the garden. He was just lying on the grass, in a snow angel position, listening to music.

"...Leave me...I'm sleeping..."

He looked down, scowling at the blonde. "What are you talking about! Your eyes are wide open!"

"..." He watched Shu shut his eyes.

He growled. He placed the plate on the grounds and forced Shu's eyes open. "Your not even—"

He was roughly pushed away. The blonde felt like a totally different person almost like that time when he first encountered him. Shu was glaring, acting cold. Something was on Shu's mind and it seemed like the guy wasn't going to say anything about it soon. "Leave me alone!"

He began to think like Yui, well try to think like Yui because he was pissed at this spoiled shit at the moment. Here he was trying to give him food and this was what he got? Who on earth could refuse food?

"Tch, whatever!"

Instead of picking a fight, he stormed off.

...

"Ne Ayato~ You talked a lot with that girl during dinner."

"It was disgusting to watch, right Teddy?"

"I was just pretending so shut up." He placed earbuds in his ears and listened to music.

His brothers weren't fond of lower class, "trash". Sometimes he would have to pretend to dislike the lower class just so they wouldn't question him. Lower class, higher class, he thought it was stupid.

"Che, why can't they get over it." He thought as he browsed through images of food.

...

"...Um, is everything okay Yuma?" Yui asked. She could feel the anger radiating from her friend who was seated on the bed against the wall. He was obvious he was angry about something.

"Hmm...I guess something happened with Shu?" She heard Reiji question and his glare at whatever he was staring at sharpened. Poor floor.

"Aha ha...so something happened with Shu Yuma?" She chuckled nervously, trying make him speak. "May ask what happened—"

"What happened? You want to know what happened," He scoffed. "He suddenly began acting more bitchy that's what happened! That damn spoiled turtle! There's probably something going on in that stupid head of his but he won't say anything!"

Reiji agreed. "He's like that. I suggest you learn to deal with it."

"Reiji, do you know what's going on in his mind," she asked.

"It's Laito I assume...that reminds, did Shu finish his dinner Yuma—"

"...Kah...what was with all the vegetables on my plate..." Shu entered the room.

"...Pff..." Yui slapped her hands over her mouth, silently laughed to herself then peeked over at Yuma. Despite being pissed not so long ago, he was stifling his laughter too. During dinner Reiji was seething with revenge and glaring at the veggies while he was piling up Shu's plate with green, veggie colors. His intent was very obvious.

She suddenly felt the Shu glare at her and instantly froze, trying to stop her laughed.

"S-Sorry," she squeaked.

As he walked passed her, she heard him mumble," Reiji...He's...a monster."

"Monster? Be thankful Shu. Vegetables are healthy for you."

"...Steak is healthy too," he said as he plopped onto the bed.

"Shu doesn't like vegetables?" She couldn't help but ask. Vegetables tasted delicious, so was meat, but most of her life she'd been eating veggies and fruits. If they wanted meat they'd have to buy it from the city. "Yuma and I love vegetables."

"He doesn't get enough fruit and vegetables he's supposed to get each day." Reiji sat on his desk chair and opened up his chemistry book. "...Why are you sitting on the floor?...You are allowed to sit on my bed, did you forget already?"

"It's okay, I'm fine with the floor." She stared at Reiji's text book for few seconds then remembered something important. "Homework! Yuma, let's finish our homework."

"Shit...I forgot about that."

"Shu, aren't you going to do yours too," she looked over at Shu but he looked sound asleep. "...Eh..."

"Shu, get up and finish your school work or your diet for tomorrow will be vegetarian food."

"...Kah, monster."

As she dug through her school bag she found the lined paper she found on the way to her Reiji's and Shu's mansion and decided to read it. The paper was titled "how to be friends", under that there was a list of methods and what intrigued her more was the name written near the bottom of the paper.

"Ayato?..." She mumbled.

* * *

 **So I'm gonna focus on this story first and I'll be updating a lot this week...I hope and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter? XD**


	12. Conflicted

**A/N Hm...I haven't had anyone get injured since the first few chapters...Yep, someone is getting a bit injured this chapter, physically.**

 **Conflicted**

* * *

"You two actually like to eat vegetables?"

Yui giggled as Ayato made a face of disgust. It seemed that he wasn't too fond of vegetables like Shu. However, today Yuma was aggravated for some reason. His tone was rough, and hard when he said, "You probably eat something like meat everyday don't you."

"Yuma!"

"Tch, whatever." He stormed off elsewhere.

"I actually do." Ayato didn't seem to mind the attitude he received and agreed to Yuma's accusation. "...the school is really big."

"...Yuma isn't always—"

"How about you? How come you're not acting like him? Aren't you supposed to hate people like me?" She, herself, didn't know where they were going right now. They should be near the science department since she heard some small explosions nearby. "Don't you hate them, Reiji and Shu?"

He asked the question so casually. It was like he was a commoner himself. He didn't sound all stuck-up or snotty. Even when he did sound that way it was different, a fun and kind way of being a brat.

"Of course not! I'd like to get along with them."

She felt stares, more like glares, but she felt a lot of them. The stares were mostly from the female students walking by; they must really have good hearing.

"Really?" He sounded really excited but then he coughed while blushing and said," T-That's dumb."

Then she remembered the paper from last night, Ayato's name written on it. What did he think of her? She wondered if he had the same idea as she did. Does he think of her as a friend?

"Anyways...why does the school have to be so big..." Yes, it was horrendously huge and she doesn't like that either. Even though she wasn't well-versed with the school she offered him her help.

"Oh, if you need help finding your classes I'll try to—"

"I know every each of the school!"

"I can show you around!"

"Are you new here? I can show you around!"

She was shoved aside as female students flocked around him, offering to show him around the school. And what started as just three girls surrounding Ayato turned into a herd, a very large crowed of girls.

"Wow...he instantly become really popular with them," she muttered. She was kneeling on the ground, staring idly at the large crowd.

"...Why are you here? Were you with Ayato?~" Staring down down at her was Laito, smiling at her. But his smile gave her chills. His smile wasn't nice at all, like a facade. Did he dislike her? Then her mind wondered off to Kanato. Did he dislike her too? His smile gave her doubts. What about Ayato? Was he just acting? "Classes are about to start soon you know~"

As if he jinxed it, the bell rang.

"Ah! N-No way! You've be kidding me!"

From the science department to her first class was a pretty damn long distance.

"...S-so I-I'll be your sub—"

Their was a substitute teacher for her first class today. She didn't know whether to be happy or not. Though, this was new to her. The students acted way differently from when the actual teacher was around.

"Ha...I get to get some rest."

"Let's get out of here then."

"Let's go."

About half the students left the class while the other half stayed in the classroom, napping or doing whatever they wanted. The teacher wasn't even trying to keep the class in tact and heard the sub mutter,"I-I'll just mark everyone here...and let you to your on devices..."

 _How terrible..._ All of the students were rude, well a large majority of them were. _How can they be so rude to an adult..._

"Oh, y-you're the new student right?"

"Yep, where do I sit?"

"A-Anywhere."

Ayato was in her class, he was in the same year as her—Wait, why is he coming over to her desk.

"Yui, the school is serious really huge!" Why was he doing that. He acted so casual around her. Classmates were staring at them but Ayato didn't seem to care. He didn't care...what others thought, unlike Reiji and Shu. But...what if he was just acting?

With the exception of Shu's and Reiji's mother, an aristocrat would never act this familiar with her.

"Y-Yeah, it really is! You should see the garden."

Were they really friends already?...Laito's smile made her queasy.

...

"Why are you still upset Yuma?"

"Tch, he's pissing me off."

"I'm sure Shu has his reasons."

...

"...Why are you following me?"

"How rude~ Aren't you supposed to help out a new student?"

...

 _This...this brat!_

"Hurry, I'm hungry!"

He'd rather carry Shu than Kanato.

...

"Lunch? With us?" Yui incredulously asked.

Ayato joined them for lunch. For some reason he wanted to join. Okay, no, he actually wanted to hang around with them. He wondered what kind of food they brought. He wanted to try their kind of food.

"So, are you guys waiting for Reiji and Shu?"

Yuma was silent, angry kind of silent, while Yui was mumbling denials and fidgeting. She was a terrible liar he mentally laughed.

"It's obvious that—"

"So what? You've got a problem with that? Is there a fucking problem with hanging out with aristocrats when we're just commoners!?" Yuma, he was really mad and really frightening right now. Ayato was grabbed by the collar of his dress shirt. Hell, it was scary that he kinds of wanted to pee in his pants right now. He felt himself being lifted above the floor a bit then got thrown onto concrete.

"Tch, spoiled shits."

He mentally scoffed. He was starting to get irritated with Yuma's attitude.

"Yuma stop it, you'll—"

"Spoiled," Ayato retaliated, interrupting Yui. That was one thing he couldn't tolerate, being called spoiled when the word isn't being used in a joking manner. He picked himself up, faced Yuma with fierce eyes and snarled,"You bastard, aren't you people the ones who're spoiled? Hah?! Aren't you their servants just because of the money!? I bet Shu and Reiji already bought you two a bunch of stuff!"

...

" _Servants aren't—"_

" _You're my friend too aren't you? Yours truly can spend as much money as he wants for a friend!"_

" _I see. Thank you."_

...

" _We plan on quitting. We earned enough money to start our own business."_

" _That's funny, stop joking Ruki."_

" _I'm serious."_

" _Then, tell me where your going to live and we'll visit sometimes."_

" _I'll think about it."_

...

Uncontrolled, he aimed his fist at Yuma face. But he wasn't successful in landing a hit on Yuma.

Yui interrupted and instead, he hit Yui.

"Crap—Hey! Are okay," he panicked. His eyes were wide open as he stared at Yui. She was kneeling on the ground, clutching her nose with both hands. He saw a few drops of blood trail down her arms and onto her uniform.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!"

Yuma hurriedly settled her over his shoulder. "Are you an idiot you idiot! I'll carry to the nurse."

Ayato stared at the blood on his hand then ruffled his hair with it.

"Dammit..."

His first commoner friend...He hoped he didn't screw it up.

...

Shu was stuck with Laito at a round table in a garden, resting his face in his arms as he listening to the chattering around. He could hear rumors, gossip and girls talking about him and Reiji. Then, he heard something alarming.

"That new student has his hand covered in blood."

"A fight?"

"I heard that that really tall guy was in it too"

"And that blonde girl too."

His eyes shot open. _Who...Laito is with me...Ayato or is it Kanato?_

Laito heard it too as he chatted with the girls around him. He also caught Shu tense up by it and mentally commented,"Why worry about them when there just going to betray you anyways?"

...

He probably screwed up. She was probably going to hate him. He didn't know what he was going to get from her. Anger? Fear? Hate? Those emotions were reasonable.

"Dammit…," He muttered as his back slid against the outside wall of the health office. Then took a seat on the tile floor with his legs stretched out. The hallway was empty except for him and the voices coming from within the office.

"It's okay Yuma, it's my fault anyways. I'm sure he had his reasons why he was so mad."

"You expect me to listen to you—"

"She's right Yuma. It's her fault. If you weren't such a fool this wouldn't have happened."

"Aha...I'm sorry."

There was silence then Kanato's voice was heard.

"Ayato did that? It hurts doesn't it? Ha ahaha..." His brother let out a laugh then his voice sharpened. "Hey, shouldn't you be mad? Shouldn't you hate him? He's the reason why your nose hurts."

His brothers still had a grudge, a grudge against commoners who had been their personal servants. They were the ones who gave them false hope, false friendship. He got over it but Laito and Kanato didn't.

"I'm fine, it doesn't hurt at all—" 

"Really? Reiji stepped on your hand on the first day of school right?" He had an idea what was going on in Kanato's mind. Yui must have reminded him of them, of Azusa. "You must must love pain...Hey, do you like pain?"

"...Ah, actually it hurts...but I can handle it and I'm not mad Ayato at all."

Why...How was she able to just forgive him like that but nonetheless he was glad. His lips curved up into a smile.

...

"Fufu~ You seem to be worried about something," Laito pointed out.

He was showing Laito to his next class. Laito practically stuck to him like glue. Laito would mostly question about Yuma and Yui than about the school. Shu didn't answer any of his questions regarding Yui and Yuma.

"..."

"Hm~ You're worried about them aren't you?"

"..."

"Still not answering?~"

"..." He hated it. He thought about not heading to the rooftop for lunch anymore, distancing himself from them until Laito got off his back. But Laito was on to him already. If other students were to know, Yui and Yuma may attract unnecessary attention.

"Whatever~ It's obvious...I wonder what would happen—"

"Shut it already."

"Ah~ Did I hit a nerve?" He laughed. "...Hey, I wonder who got injured~ You're wondering that too aren't you?"

Since yesterday, his head was hurting from worrying so much.

" _...with them," Shu questioned his mother._

" _Yes, with them. This weekend, please spend some time with them and get along with them. It seems they'll be living here from now on."_

 _Reiji nodded. "We will."_

" _And bring Yui and Yuma along too."_

* * *

 **Yes more bonding time next chapter (it'll be longer than this chapter) and yeah...Oh, and yes Subaru and Christa will be popping...in the next chapter too~ And um I'm gonna try to add in some romance in the next chapter ;D Hope you peeps enjoyed this chapter? O3O**


	13. DISCONTINUED

**A/N: This chapter has nothing to do with the story.**

* * *

 **Discontinued**

* * *

Wailing and the sound of the door slamming shut echoed around the extravagant bedroom.

"Hmph, she wasn't good enough for yours truly...," a conceited voice commented.

The owner of the voice laid back in bed and closed his eyes, looking all relaxed as if a few seconds ago the sniffling and the door being slammed never happened. He knew was going to get scolded by his mother later.

"Get away from Teddy and me! Ayato, do something about Laito!" His little brother Kanato burst through the grand doors, stole a pillow and stood on the bed.

"Let's go into the dance room already Kanato~" His big brother Laito came in afterward, trying to drag Kanato into a party. "Besides, mother will get mad if we all haven't already picked a bride."

"This is all your fault Ayato!"

Kanato was right but he was also at fault too, Laito as well. Parties—the parties sucked by the way—were held once a month in order to search for brides, their wives. It was all their fault that parties were thrown once a month just for the sake of finding their brides. If they had just accepted their mother's candidates, they wouldn't be in this mess right now.

Girls constantly threw themselves at him but none interested him. If in the future, his relationship with a girl would turn out to be like his parents then none of them piqued his interest. All girls are just into how wealthy he was, that was what he believed.

"Hey Ayato," Laito drawled out his name. "Did hear me? Mother will get—"

All of the sudden the door flung open, their enraged mother appeared.

"What are you three doing up here? Get back back to the party!"

"Yes~"

"Let's go Teddy."

As Ayato sat up on his bed, crossing his legs, he complained. "I don't want to go. It's getting boring."

"Ayato, come here." He got up and stood in front of his mother. His mother wore a sickening sweet smile on her lips which was coated with dark red lipstick. She picked up her hand and caressed his cheek as if she were a loving and caring mother. "Listen, Ayato. You will take your father's place as king and rule however you want. Doesn't that sound fun?"

His mother neglected her duties as queen, not completely but he knew she didn't want to deal with it. She didn't want to deal with her duties or her children. From the day he became more keen and less oblivious, he developed hatred towards his mother.

"Miss Cordelia, someone has requested your presence."

"Sounds fun doesn't?" His mother dug her nails into his cheek. She then started to scrape his cheeks, drawing a tiny amount of blood, when he didn't answer. He quickly reeled back and clutched his cheek, feeling the red liquid. "Not boring at all, right?"

He nodded, the only thing he could do.

"What a good boy you are."

He stayed in the same position, letting a few tears dropped when he heard the door close.

"What are you two doing here? Get to the party this instance!"

"Sorry~"

"...Isn't Ayato coming—"

"Ah haha, we'll be going now~ Let's go Kanato, hurry up—"

"Wait Laito, Kanato come with me for a bit."

...

"Yuma, Azusa, you guys are scaring the chickens," a voice frantically called out.

A brown cat, along with light gray cat, were pawing the fence and meowing at the feathered creatures in the chicken coop. Chickens weren't the only animals inside the coop. A light orange cat, Kou, was playfully wrestling a white cat, Subaru, near a dark orange cat, Shu, who was taking a nap.

"Yui, is it alright if I take a few tomatoes?"

"Of course," Yui chirped.

The villagers often came over to her place for plants, plant seeds, chickens or eggs. It didn't make her irritated or mad. Whenever villagers came by she always felt ecstatic, glad that she could be relied on, that she could help her community in some way. After all, it was the villagers who had taken her under their care when her parents had past away.

Yui placed tomatoes into the lady's basket. "Are there still no merchants coming by?"

"None at all..."

Yui became startled when the lady's expression became gloomy. "U-um, at least we're saving money...d-don't worry."

"Thank you Yui...Oh? Was that your stomach grumbling?"

Yui's cheeks heated up. "N-No."

"—I'll come by with your lunch later."

Yui frowned and furiously shook her head. "You don't have to—"

"But I want to. So look forward to my cooking, alright?" Before she could argue back any further, the lady took off. "I'll be back really quick! Reiji, Ruki, don't let her out of your sights for now!"

"Meow."

A black cat, along with a dark gray cat, sneaked up beside her, staring up at here with eyes saying that she just accept the lady's offer. She crouched down and gave both that cats' ears a scratch.

"Maybe I should go out and buy a present."

...

"Quiet crying Kanato! You're getting snot all on my hair!"

"Hmm, Teddy is really messed up though."

Sounds of sniveling increased.

"Gah, stop it Kanato!"

Ayato walked around the city, carrying Kanato, who was crying his eyes out over his messed up teddy bear, on his shoulders. He felt salty tears and sticky snot on his head while Laito carried Teddy, examining the bear. "You know, if you become king we would be free of her."

"Che, then why don't you marry someone and be the king already?"

All three of them wore a brown cloak, wearing a hood over their heads to not cause a commotion or their mother would would get hold of it. They had sneaked out the castle so if word gets out that there's these three prince roaming around the city they'd be so dead.

"Idiot~ You're the one who was born first. Hurry up and pick someone already."

"Whatever, let's just find someone who can sew."

...

"What should we buy..."

Yui took a look at the shops in the city, hoping to find a worthy present.

"Meow." Her two cats, Reiji and Ruki, pawed at her feet.

"What is it?" Reiji and Ruki lead her to a crowded shop, a toy shop. There was some sort of huge commotion going on so she had to stand on tiptoes to see what the shop were selling. When she got a better view, she caught sight of adorable stuffed animals. Though, they all had hearts somewhere on them but that was alright. A stuffed animal was a perfect gift for the lady's small daughter. "That's a great idea you two."

As Yui made her way into the crowd, Ruki and Reiji clung onto her shoulders so they wouldn't get trampled by people. Getting closer to the store stall she saw one out of the three hooded people argue with store's clerk, shaking sewing tools in front of the clerk's face.

"You have to tools to sew right so yours truly demands that you fix this teddy bear right now."

"But the problem here is that I—"

"Then find someone."

"I can't leave my shop unattended—"

"We'll watch over it."

"But—"

Yui decided to cut in, saving the clerk. "I can sew...I can help."

The clerk inhaled sharply, relieved, rushed over to Yui and took a hold of both her hands. "Thank you so much young lady. Is there anything I can give back in return—"

She was quick shake her head and deny the offer. "No thank you!"

"Hurry up, let's go—I can't stand his sniffling anymore."

She then briskly felt the guy, who had argued with the shop's clerk, grab her by the wrist and got dragged to someplace else.

"Che, can't you work any faster?" In front of the entrance to the forest, there was a giant stump. That was where they were at. Yui was sitting on the giant stump, fixing up the teddy bear. She wasn't annoyed at the sniffling or the crying. She was annoyed at the guy who complained almost every second. Can't he see she was working with needles?

"...You don't even know how to sew," she muttered to herself, however the guy caught hold of her comment.

"Ha? I can sew!" The tools, along with the teddy bear were snatched away from her.

She glared at him, "Be careful with the needle."

"Don't pester me paper woman!"

"P-Paper woman?"

"Your chest is as flat as a paper!"

"My chest size has nothing to do with this—"

"Now, now~ Let's hurry and fix Teddy up before Kanato goes crazy with the tears again."

"You're right," she said. She almost forgot about the one who was heavily upset over the bear. She glanced at the boy who was sitting against the stump, head resting on his knees. Then she looked back to the guy with the sewing tools and the bear. "Aren't you going to—"

"Inform the instructions..."

"Huh?"

"...T-Tell yours truly how to use these things," he said in a helpless yet prideful tone.

"Okay."

She didn't mind instructing him how to sew, but he sure had a really cocky mouth. He couldn't sew even if his life depended on it yet he kept saying things like "I knew that" or "Heh, I was just testing you you know" after every instruction she gave him.

"Heh, look Kanato! Yours truly fixed Teddy with no help."

See? He really does have a cocky mouth.

But her annoyance was soon swiftly washed away when the boy called Kanato lifted his head and hugged the teddy bear really tight. Though she couldn't see Kanato's face, she was certain he was extremely happy.

"Meow."

Ruki and Reiji pawed at her lap and arm, telling that she should hurry and go buy a stuff animal.

"I should get going." As she stood up, Ruki and Reiji hopped onto her shoulders. "It was nice meeting you three, good bye."

"Huhu~ Good bye~"

...

"What did you say? I can sew! I told you I fixed Teddy up, see?"

Kanato wouldn't believe him when he said he had sewed Teddy up all by himself. Aside from the instructions given to him by the blonde girl, he technically did fix up the teddy bear with his own two hands. There was even small amount of blood on a few of his fingers to prove his point but he didn't want to show his hands. An experienced sewer would never injury themselves.

"Hey Laito, tell him I was the one who sewed Teddy up!"

"What are you talking about? You can't sew if your life depended on it." Laito wasn't on his side at all.

"Che, I don't care what you two think. I'm the one who stitched him up!"

Kanato jumped in, joining Laito's side. "The girl was the one who did most of the work. You barely did anything."

"But, I can't believe she would help out suspicious looking people. Huhu~ You have terrible fashion sense Ayato."

"Shut your mouths!"

...

"Here's your rabbit."

Yui mumbled a thank you as took the stuffed toy.

The clerk Yui had helped out minutes ago was a really terrible guy. For some reason, he only raised the cost of the stuffed rabbit for her only. She payed up anyways since there wasn't really any use for her to argue. She's been in this situation before. She didn't mind. At least she bought something in return for the lady.

"Well, at least it was worth it...Right Ruki, Reiji...? Huh? Reiji, Ruki?" It was then that she noticed that her two feline friends weren't on her shoulders. No wonder she felt so light. She looked down at the ground around her to see if Reiji and Ruki were walking beside her; they weren't near her at all.

But then she heard the clerk that had sold her the bunny shout out in displease. "Stupid cats! Shoo, scram!"

Ruki and Reiji were getting fur all over the toys, rubbing against all the stuffed animals that were being displayed.

"Not again...Reiji, Ruki stop that!" Reiji and Ruki never allowed her to be cheated of her money but all they did was cause her to pay for the trouble they caused. She was about to apologize to the clerk as Ruki and Reiji hopped back onto her shoulders.

"Now, now~ You're scaring the customers mister~" The same three hooded figures she had met helped out. "I'll pay for everyone's toys."

Shoppers that surrounded the shop whispered in surprise while children shouted with joy. Still, Yui apologized. And the clerk didn't respond back politely at all. "They're your cats? Take responsibility and pay up for each toy with your cats' fur."

"But—"

"No worries~ I'll pay for her."

The clerk sent the hooded figure a nasty scowl. "Don't joke around boy. How much could you possibly have on you right now—"

She saw the clerk's gaping mouth when the guy showed a large amount of money to him. She could practically see the reflection of the money in the clerk's wide eyes as he responded in a totally different tone than before. "What a kind gentleman you are. I'll gladly take that out of your hands."

After all that commotion, she introduced herself to the three hooded guys and got their names.

"Thank you for helping me out. Is there anything I can do to repay you?" She couldn't help but ask, or else the guilt wouldn't stop bothering her, as she roamed around the city with them. She just couldn't help but feel guilty. It all her fault that the stuff animals were dirtied with cats' fur. She should have been the one to pay up and yet it was a stranger who had payed for her instead. She felt really, really guilty.

Laito giggled. "Fufu~ Hey, are you familiar with our names? Do you know the three princes?" 

"Huh...?" She gave him a muddled expression. "...I'm sort of familiar with their faces but not their names."

She heard Ayato comment in disbelief. "You're crazy...What's wrong with you?"

Laito quickly interjected. "Anyways, let's go to your place."

...

"H-Huh? Find you a bride?" Reiji was seated on top of her head, Ruki was on her shoulders, Azusa and Shu were on her lap while Kou and Subaru were walking around on the kitchen table, hissing and glaring at Laito, Kanato and Ayato.

"Ayato, just for Ayato," Laito reminded. "You'll be like...Hm, his wing woman."

"What?! Why is it only me—Why do you have so many cats!"

"Because, we don't necessarily need one," Kanato explained.

"What do you say?~ You can repay us this way," Laito chimed.

"Alright, I'll do my best."

"Hey, hey Kanato, don't you think she's perfect for Ayato?"

"Mhm, she is. I want her as my sister in law."

Yui stared at the mumbling duo. "Is something wrong?"

"No."

"Nope~"

"Get this cat away from me, it's trying to kill me!"

"Ah, I'm sorry! Subaru, calm down!"

* * *

 **Aprils Fools!~ I had this all typed up in February and it was supposed to be for Valentines day...yeah... Don't worry I'm working on the next chapter of Different so get ready for Subaru! XD I apologize for doing this, it'll be taken down when I finish chapter 13? XD**


	14. Forget Reputation

**A/** **N: I apologize for the lack of Yui and Yuma moments.**

* * *

 **F** **orget Reputation**

* * *

Ayato whistled casually. "So...Where are we going?"

It must be very awkward for Yui and Yuma walking in a big group like this, especially when Shu, Reiji, his brothers and he were like idols. They received stares and squeals from other people as they walked.

No one responded to him. There was just silence among the group.

Getting his brothers to get along with Yuma and Yui was going to be difficult task.

"Okay...so no one knows?" Ayato sighed to himself and peeked over at Yui who was staring in awe at the stores they were walking by. Yuma was staring in awe as well. The two looked as though they were little kids excited over receiving a new toy. "Is this your first time?"

"No, but the buildings around here seem really big. We're still not used to it." Yui instantly responded while Yuma nodded in agreement.

Ayato laughed. "Pft, both of you look like kids when you stare around like that."

"You mean just Yui."

"It's not only me! You're included too Yuma!"

Surprisingly Reiji joined in and agreed. "It's true, you two seem like children right now."

Shu jumped in as well and commented, "Right, like little kids..."

Ayato snickered to himself. It was so true.

"Actually, Yui, you actually act more like a child than Yuma," Reiji informed.

"Right," Shu drawled. "...an annoying one."

"E-eh? I do," she ridiculously questioned. "W-Wait a second! When have I ever been annoying?

There were people staring and eavesdropping but it seemed that Reiji and Shu disregarded that. Ayato was surprised since a couple of days ago they never interact with Yuma and Yui during school hours or during lunch even though there was rooftop access which was a perfect way to hide from noisy students. Shu and Reiji themselves warned him to not interact with Yuma and Yui during school hours.

" _I suggest you not to attract unnecessary attention to them, during school hours."_

" _Why?" He questioned but he knew. He understood why. Yui and Yuma would get bullied more._

 _He didn't know Shu could glare as he was doing right now. "_ _Isn't obvious why?"_

" _Then,_ _yours truly will protect_ _them_ _!"_

He didn't agree to their way of protecting them. Like how he had beaten up people in the past for badgering his personal servants, he would gladly do the same for Yuma and Yui if people were bothering them.

"Anyways, where are we even going," He complained.

"...Who knows," Shu responded lazily.

At some point, Reiji and Shu finally made a stop in a tableware shop. Across from that shop was a music shop and beside the tableware shop was a flower shop. Shu headed to the musics store, Reiji was in the tableware shop while he, his brothers, Yuma, and Yui went into the flower shop.

"Wah...amazing, the whole place smells like flower Yuma."

"I-It does!"

Compared to the other shops surrounding the flower shop, it wasn't that big but Yui and Yuma were going crazy over it. They were practically sniffing all the flowers they see with there eyes. He couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

"You look attached to them. It's disgusting," Kanato commented.

"Hey Ayato, you won't be able to make us get along with them."

"That's right, your plans were terrible."

Yeah...Laito was probably right. A couple of days ago he tried to set Laito and Kanato up with a play date with Yuma and Yui. He failed miserably. When the four met up, there would be a few minutes of awkward silence while Yui would try to start a conversation and then Kanato and Laito would just end up leaving without a word.

"Don't underestimate yours truly! I have more plans you know—"

"Wow, this flower smells just like chocolate! It smells so sweet, doesn't it Yuma," So, by accident Yui mistook Kanato, who she had lightly slapped on the arm, for Yuma since he was right beside her. "...Eh...K-Kanato?..."

Before Kanato could lash out, Ayato stuffed the pot of flowers that smelled like chocolates in Kanato's face.

"...Sweet...It smells like chocolate."

Ayato smirked in triumph, "Safe!..."

"Hey, hey! Look at these, they smell like strawberries!" Nope, not safe. Yuma slapped his shoulder, startling him and making him fling the pot into the air.

And unfortunately he wasn't able to save the pot. The grumpy old lady near Kanato glared at his brother, causing Kanato to glare back. The shattered pot and the soil were splattered on the floor between Kanato and the stranger.

"Who—Was it you," The elderly woman accused his brother.

"I'm really sorry." Yui was quick to apologize though it wasn't her fault.

The stranger now glared at Yui. "Heh, so it was you—"

"Tch, what the hell happened here?"

...

A new voice rang in her ears. She followed the sound, eyes meeting a boy around her age with white hair and red eyes.

"I-I'm sorry! I'll clean this mess up!" To avoid anymore trouble, apologizing and cleaning up this mess was the only thing she could think of doing right now. If Kanato were to lash out now, they'd be in big trouble. And it wasn't even his fault. How could someone be so quick to accuse?

"Are you an idiot?" Before she could pick up the shattered pieces, the guy pulled her away from the mess by her arm. "Stay away! Tch, I'm the one who has to clean up this dumb mess."

He let go of her arm and disappeared elsewhere, then quickly returned with a broom in hand and began sweeping the mess while muttering curses under his breath. She idly stared at him, blinking her eyes in disbelief.

"U-Uh—" Yuma grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out the shop while the triplets hurried behind.

"Hey, you...Why," Kanato scowled at her. "It wasn't even your fault."

"Ah, but it wasn't your fault either Kanato and I think it was rude for that person to accuse you—"

"You, you...you irritate me," he commented then wandered off over to where Reiji was.

"E-Eh? But—Irritating!?"

Was she really that irritating to him?

"Mhm~ Both you and your friend are irritating," Laito commented and walked off to where Shu was.

Yuma animatedly waved his fist at him. "Hah?! I'm not irritating! Come back here so I can beat you up!"

"Irritating...," Yui repeated while sulking.

"Then, where to next," Ayato questioned.

"But...I really wanted to smell all the flowers in there," Yui stared at the flowers through the window with Yuma.

"Me too, especially the ones that smell like fruity."

"Hya!" She let out a small shriek when her eyes met with the white haired guy then quickly turned away from the window. "M-Maybe we should go—"

"You guys are still here?" She gulped down hard when she saw the guy came out from the shop, sending them, more specifically her, a hard stare. That was one damn scary look. It looked as though he wanted to beat her up or something. "Tch, whatever...the mess is already cleaned up. Come in if you want."

He went back into the shop, leaving Yui gaping.

"T-That was super scary...!"

"Let's go, let's go! I want to smell all the flowers," Yuma exclaimed, dashing into the shop.

"Hey, wait up for yours truly! I want to smell them too!"

"S-Scary..." She mumbled.

When she entered the shop she felt jittery and butterflies in her stomach. Her movements were all stiff and unnatural, trying very hard to not accidentally break something or bump into other people.

"Hey, are you guys just looking around?" She fought the urged to shriek. She felt the guy's hard stare again but didn't face the white-haired male. Instead she just stared at the flowers around her while stiffly nodding. "Tch, why aren't you speaking?"

"U-Uh b-cause, I-I'm really sorry for causing you—"

"Not going to buy anything?"

It seemed he didn't want to talk about the incident. "Um no, we're just looking around."

He grunted. "Then, take your time...if you accidentally spill something again just call for me."

That was frightening but he does seem nice.

...

"...Do I have to answer your question," Shu asked while scowling.

"Not really~," Laito smirked, fond of annoying Shu. "But I guess I see why you trust those two."

"They're not like your servants in the past. Don't compare our servants to yours."

"Yes, yes~ I understand," Laito drawled. "But that doesn't mean I'll be getting along with them."

...

"We are deeply sorry for the mess we have caused."

"I-I-It's okay. Don't worry bout it. We'll just clean this mess up."

"Kanato, apologize."

"No! I don't want to!"

Reiji couldn't help but wish he was dealing with Shu instead.

...

It was exhausting walking around the city. It was too huge with big buildings and Yui just couldn't get used to it. When they finally arrived back in the mansion she plopped down on the living room sofa along with Yuma. Reiji and Shu were eavesdropping, pretending to study in the living room with them. And for Laito and Kanato, they were out in the city somewhere.

"Yuma...how are we going to get along with Kanato and Laito?"

"Why are you asking me? You're the optimistic one here."

"But...they called us annoying," she sulked.

"...You're supposed to be thinking of positive things here Yui."

"I am! But...I wonder why they hate us so much."

"Yours truly can explain!"

"Wah!" From behind the sofa, Ayato popped up and surprised Yui, Yuma, Shu and Reiji. Yui and Yuma shrieked while Reiji and Shu kept their cool but still, they were startled by the red-head popping out of nowhere like that.

"So that's how it is..."

"Hah!? We're nothing like them!"

"Anyways yours truly has another plan."

His plans were practically just a play dates but they went with it anyways. It was a simple plan, which was to get Kanato the flowers that smelled like sweets. They were going to go back to that same shop where they had caused a mess.

Yuma and Ayato were already out the living room. Looking over at Reiji and Shu, Yui stood up and asked,"Reiji, Shu, want to go with us?"

Reiji and Shu shook their heads, keeping their eyes trained on the book, which were upside down. Yui didn't question it but thought how difficult it would be to read that way. Before she left, she cheered them on, "Good luck with your studies."

Then Beatrix walked in and she pointed out the way they held the books in their hands. "Your books are upside down."

Their mother's commented made them awkwardly clear their throats and flip their book to the correct position. "Go look after them. You two haven't been on good terms with the triplets this week."

They stared at there mother with questioning looks.

"It's fine to get along with Yui and Yuma...out in public as well."

Without a word, they nodded and left. After they left, Cordelia entered the room.

"So you're trying to get the public to think good of the lower class now? Beatriz, do you actually think the public will accept the lower class just because of that?"

Beatrix ignored the comment. "Shu and Reiji...if they get along with those two then it'll change people's minds. People already know that Reiji and Shu have their own personal servants. They have to stick close to those two in public and forget about our reputation..."

Beatrix silently glared at the floor, thinking about her deceased friend.

"Then, it's your fault she died?"

"It's true, if I had just forget about the my position, my status, then her mother would still be living right now."

"That's reminds me...Beatrix, does Christa know?"

"..."

"Oh," The purple-haired woman drawled. "So she doesn't?"

"..."

* * *

When Reiji and Shu found them, they weren't anticipating on seeing something like this. Yui, Yuma, Ayato and Kanato were out in the open on the side walk, confronting a stranger and people began to circle around them to see what was happening.

Hiding in the crowd, Reiji and Shu eavesdropped.

The crummy man was complaining and all that, acting like a real pain in the butt. "He bumped into me and I just want a simple apology and he isn't even going to give me one. You two live in the village don't you? Don't you understand?"

"We apologize on his behalf. Please forgive him," Yui spoke up.

"Oh, so you know this guy? Ah, you two must be his servants no wonder. You two are just sucking up to him right?" Some middle, and lower, class people also acted this way with aristocrats. "Just for a raise right? Hah ha, beside, who would genuinely want to serve an aristocrat without thinking of the money ha ha—"

Ayato launched a punch. "Why don't you apologize to Kanato. I bet you were the one who bumped into him!"

That was when the fight started, when the punches and kicks were received. Yuma was quick to join as well while Yui didn't approve of it and tried to convince Ayato and Yuma to calm down. "Please knock it off you two!"

Two versus one was unfair, however this guy was actually pretty good at fighting.

"Stop it! You guys will—," Reiji and Shu was stuck watching. They couldn't move from there spot since it was really tightly packed. They could only see and hear what was happening and it seemed that Yui was about to get injured again. She was trying to interfere, break up the fight, by getting in the middle and gesturing for them to stop.

"Please, stop this already—"

"Y-Yui watch out," Yuma and Ayato both shouted as the stranger's foot was about to make contact with her back. But that didn't happen.

Kanato was the one who got kicked right in the stomach.

"K-Kanato!" Yui hugged him, trying to soothe him as he tears streamed down his face.

Because of that scene people around starting mumbling about the stranger, saying how terrible it was for the child or how dare he make such a cute child like that cry and that was what sent the guy scrambling off. But Kanato and the stranger wasn't the only people the conversations centered around. Some were mumbling how it was odd for the people like Yui and Yuma to be hanging around aristocrats.

"...Reiji, they're getting along."

They watched as Yuma tried to comfort Kanato, awkwardly patting the purple-head on shoulder while Yui was tightly hugging the purple-head. Ayato took pictures of the three, probably planning to send the pictures to Laito later.

"What? Are you envious as well?" Reiji's eyes was fixed on Ayato. "I...praise him for interacting with them in public like that."

Shu had his eyes on Ayato as well. "...Right...It's a surprise he's carefree around them."

"Then, shall we start forgetting about ours as well?"

.

.

.

Weeks had past and Yui and Yuma had been slowly getting along with Laito and Kanato. However Shu and Reiji were becoming a bit distant from Yuma and Yui, not meeting up with them during lunch and speaking with them less even when not in public.

"Reiji and Shu...haven't been coming here for awhile now...," Yui frowned.

"Tch," Yuma grunted. "Isn't it obvious? They're staying away from us so we won't get into any troubles with rich ones here."

"That's true...Where are they right now," Yui frowned.

"Garden, look." With food all stuffed in his mouth, Ayato answered while pointing at Reiji and Shu who were in the garden seated a long bench with lots of people surrounding them. And majority were females. Nodding in agreement to Ayato, Kanato stabbed a cherry tomato from Yui's with a fork and plopped it into his mouth.

"Isn't it more of not getting Yui into any troubles," Laito suggested. "Aren't you okay with the ladies Yuma?~ You're already safe."

By impulse she silently glared at Yuma, who instantly felt her glare. "What are you glaring at me for!?"

Her cheeks inflated and stuttered. "I-I don't know!"

"It's not nice to lie you know~," Laito commented. Then he smirked. "It's obvious that you—"

"Don't say it, don't say it! I know am so don't say it please," she whispered to Laito. In return, Laito whispered back to her.

"You like him don't you~?" Yui willingly nodded. Then she peeked over to Yuma and was surprised to see Kanato extending his arm to him with a lollipop in hand.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Yuma hesitatingly took the candy from Kanato's hand.

"Huh, me too? Thank you." Kanato did the same thing with Yui, giving her the same flavor lollipop Yuma received.

"Don't think too deep about it," Laito snickered. "He doesn't like lollipops that aren't sweet."

Yuma's and Yui's faces puckered when they plopped the lollipop in their mouths. "S-Sour!"

Laito stifled his laughter.

"Hey...," Ayato abruptly stood up, clinging onto the fence. "Reiji and Shu don't usually get into fights right?"

Yui and Yuma gathered near the fence and looked down. Students were slowly crowding around Reiji, Shu and a couple of first year male students. Their hair was messy, clothes all wrinkled up and soiled with dirt.

"...It's really them—Why are they fighting?!"

"...But it's a surprise to see them like that."

Shu and Reiji wore frightening expressions. The way they were glaring was like how they glared when Yui and Yuma first encountered them but this time they were really glaring.

"T-They're starting to fight now. Let's hurry and stop them," Yui panicked. Yuma nodded in agreement.

"You two will just attract more attention to yourselves," Laito commented. "Besides the bell is about to ring."

A second later, it rang.

With that, everyone headed to their fifth class.

"You're worried?" The girl buzzed, tilting her head back, slightly facing Yui. "You know, it's kind of cool that they're fighting for you and your friend. I never thought they'd do that for anyone!"

The girl sitting in front of her was in the middle class and the only friend she had in this class.

"That's not cool, it's terrible," Yui disapproved. "What if they get severely injured!"

"Aren't you supposed to be a positive person?" The girl chuckled. "Think of the bright sides of it."

"But fighting doesn't solve anything."

"Ah, right~ You're," She nodded her head. "...a pacifist—"

During the duration of the ten minute free time, the chattering in the classroom increased as someone entered the classroom, which turns out to be the white-haired male from the flower shop. The class soon quieted down when the teacher started to speak.

"He's new to this school so treat him well...Subaru, right? You can sit anywhere." There were a few empty seats and it just so happened that the desk beside Yui was free since recently the student had changed school due to not being able to handle the aristocrats.

And coincidentally, Subaru chose that seat.

After that, the ten minutes were over. The teacher began the usual, lecturing, and classwork but today he was throwing out more classwork, stating that it was for more practice since a quiz was coming up tomorrow. The good part though was that the teacher didn't give out homework today.

"Alright, you can work with someone if you want and move the desk if you want but remember to put them back."

"Man, this is more than usual." Yui's companion complained, turning her desk to face her.

"This is good practice," Yui eagerly began working on the worksheets.

In the desk beside Yui, Subaru was attracting attention. The peers were so helpful, very willing to help a new fellow student out. But they weren't so helpful when Yui was a new student.

Her friend scowled at the group of people surrounding Subaru from time to time. "Hmph, they never helped you out when you were new here."

"I think he really needs there help." Yui reasoned. "There's going to be a quiz tomorrow after all."

"You too kind." Her friend clicked her tongue and shook her head as she focused on her own work.

Students worked on the assignments given out by the teacher as the teacher watched a movie on his laptop, the usual. While Yui and her friend worked on the worksheets, they, totally weren't eavesdropping, heard their peers teaching Subaru the lesson they were currently on.

Then the group around Subaru got stuck on a question.

"This is the answer."

"No, I'm sure it's this one."

"What? How did you even get that kind of number?"

"What did you get?"

The formulas they were using were all wrong. Her friend began to snicker, slightly shaking as she did, while trying to suppress it. Yui looked at her friend. "Let's focus just focus on our work."

"P-Pft ha, Yui, you're better than some of the aristocrats in here you know."

"Really? I think doing lots of worksheets in class helps out a lot." Yui tapped the top of her pencil on her friend's paper. "Now, let's finish it."

"Oh, alright." Her friend pouted but when her friend look back to the problem she had been working on, she startled to mumble curse words and glared at the teacher. Yui took notice of this and chuckled.

"Um, do you need help with any of the problems?"

"Yes," her friend happily responded. "This one! Help me with this one."

"This one?" Whenever she notices her friend glaring or mumbling curses at the teacher, she would offer help. "Oh, you're a bit off as always. You just have to double check your work, that's all."

"Oh," her friend responded as she erased the answer. "Thanks Yui!"

...

"Just don't get severely injured."

As their mother was about to walk away, Reiji questioned.

"Why are you not stopping us. We are—"

"Damaging our image? You two don't really care about that do you? That is fine, I am fine with it," With that, their mother fled.

"What Reiji? Isn't this a good thing," Shu questioned as they walked to their room.

They've been distancing themselves from Yuma and Yui yet today they picked a fight against their kind, aristocrats. No longer were they really thinking about the consequences or their rep.

"T-This is bad! Yuma, why aren't you helping out—We have to quickly clean this place up!"

"Dammit! Why do we have to clean up after them!"

Reiji opened the door, wondering why Yui and Yuma were here when it wasn't a work day for them. "What is..."

"R-Reiji! Don't worry, we'll clean up!"

Yui sympathized with Reiji. At the moment his face was all pale, definitely horrified by the state of his room. She couldn't blame him. His room was pretty much a huge disaster right now, like a tornado had entered his room.

"Wow...," Shu drawled. "Who made this masterpiece?"

The culprits were lying on the floor, napping without a care in the world. Scattered around them were candy wrappers, crumbles of crackers and empty chip bags and school work. The mattress cover was all wrinkled up and the blankets draped along the side of the bed.

Without a word Reiji, snatched the blanket Yui was folding and began to fold it himself.

"So," Yuma started. "Why'd you two get into a fight today?"

"That is unnecessary information," Reiji moved on to smoothing the mattress cover. "You do not need to know."

"But there are...stains on your uniforms." Yui stared at their sleeves, slightly smeared with blood. "Does it hurt—"

"You're more concerned about them?" Ayato rolled over on his back and interrupted. "How about you two? Doesn't—"

"Shut up and go back to sleep!" Yuma kicked his leg.

"Shh!" Yui hushed while placing her index finger against her lips.

Ayato grunted and rolled back on his stomach. Shu claimed the bed and napped there while Reiji continued tidying up his room, unfazed by Ayato's comment but they both knew what Yuma and Yui were dealing with in schools theses past few weeks.

"You two can go home," Reiji said as he shoved them out his room.

"See you tomorrow during lunch."

"Tch, you two better be up there tomorrow."

He closed the door, sighing when Yui and Yuma was out of sight.

When he turned back, it seemed everyone in his room was taking a nap.

"Zzz..."

Reiji scowled at the three triplets lying on the floor. "There seems to be more than one Shu now."

* * *

"Mother? You're calling that person again?"

"Subaru? Welcome home, how was your day at school?"

"Good, why do you always call that person when they never answer?"

* * *

"It still hurts," Yui asked as she wrapped a wet rag around her bruised wrist.

"Help me wrap a bandage around my back for me."

She grabbed a long string of bandage and dipped it into the lake. "Alright, lift up your shirt a bit—What are you doing?!"

His shirt was off, half-naked at the moment.

Her face was really warm and she couldn't control it.

"Are you going to help—"

"Face the other direction!"

* * *

"Are you two going to be at the rooftop tomorrow," Laito asked folding his arms and placing his chin on his wrist.

Kanato and Ayato laid on their stomach as well, staring at Reiji.

"You should go," Ayato encouraged. "They've been missing you two—"

"Ah, so you three are actually awake? Now clean up the mess you made."

The three buried their faces on the floor. "Zzz..."

"For heaven's sake, stop faking it."

Reiji kicked Ayato's side till he complied.

"Zzz—Ow!"


	15. A Small Lie

**A Small Lie**

* * *

"Open it Shu."

The key was placed into the keyhole and turned, unlocking the door. The door opened and the look of joy on Yuma's and Yui's face prompted Shu and Reiji to smile a bit. It felt great to be at the rooftop again.

"Eh, you two are smiling~ How rare," Laito drawled. In the background Yui and Yuma were shushing Laito while Ayato and Kanato were eating Yuma and Yui's lunch. "Hey~ did you know what your admirers did to them. Their arms got really messed up."

They knew exactly what he was talking about but didn't want to confront Yui and Yuma about it. Confronting them would make things mentally exhausting or Shu and Reiji.

"Shut up Laito," Yuma shouted.

"But it doesn't hurt that much so we're alright," Yui assured.

Reiji scowled at them, shaking his head. "Regardless go to the health office right now."

It was clear that Reiji would take no for an answer as much as Yui persisted so they followed his order. They both pouted as they dragged their feet to the door. When the door closed, insults from Yuma could be heard.

"You two feel different when you're around them," Ayato spoke with his mouth full.

"You get along with them very well," Kanato at least had the decency to swallow down his food before talking.

"Yeah, but," Ayato agreed. He swallowed down his food and got on his feet. Ayato smirked at them, proudly pointing his thumb at himself. "Yours truly here thinks he gets along with them the best."

He then clung onto the fence and shouted, reaching the ears of the students on the ground. "I have friends from the lower class and I'm proud of it!"

It was shocking for him to say something like that. He payed no heed to the consequences that may arise or the criticizing looks he earned from below.

"Hey," Laito started as he stood up and looked at the garden area. He observed the people gazing up at Ayato. "Are they that trustworthy that you would say something like that or even fight for them?"

Ayato settled back in his spot. "Kanato is already getting use to them."

"Why don't you shut your mouth Ayato," Kanato scowled at his brother.

"Yeah," Shu answered Laito. "They're stupidly trustworthy."

"Even if they do lie, it's oddly trustworthy," Reiji added.

Laito looked over at Shu who was lying on his back, somewhat surprised to have gotten a response from him. His eyes them landed on Kanato happily munching on Yui's lunch. Kanato caught his stare and stared back.

...

 _They were ridiculously trustworthy; too trustworthy._

 _During passing period sometimes he witnessed peers purposely bumping into them and they would always be the one to apologize when ninety-nine point nine percent of the time it wasn't their fault._

 _He never intervened and just always watched them be unjustly accused._

" _Hey you two bumped into me, aren't you guys going to apologize?"_

" _Sorry..."_

" _Tch...sorry."_

 _He applauded her for her determination as well as getting Kanato to be somewhat accustomed to Yuma and herself._

" _Yummy...," Kanato mumbled as he tried out Yui's lunch._

" _S-See? Not all um...w-what are they called again...v-vegetables taste bad," Yui said as she elbowed Yuma on his arm. "Right Yuma?"_

 _He himself began to get along with them._

" _Hey Yuma, guess—"_

" _Please don't say it!_

" _Yui really really really l—"_

" _Laito!"_

" _Alright, alright I'll keep quiet for now~"_

 _..._

"What is it? Their food taste better than what we usually eat."

"Let me try," Laito said as he scooted closer to Kanato.

Kanato scowled as he shook his head and scooted away from Laito.

"Stop being so greedy! Let me have some too," Ayato jumped in.

"No! You already finished your box already," Kanato screeched.

"I've never tasted their food before," Laito muttered and as Kanato was busy arguing with Ayato he stole a piece of carrot from the lunch box sitting near Kanato.

"Stay away from my lunch!"

"Share some with me dammit!"

"It's wasn't your lunch to begin with Kanato…," Laito mumbled as he munched on another piece of carrot. "Whose lunch box is this again...Yui's?..."

Kanato and Ayato didn't even notice him eating the carrots. But Reiji and Shu were watching the scene with amused looks. The two were cracking up.

"Kanato's right...it's delicious..."

...

"You know Yuma, I think we're getting along with Laito and Kanato very well." Day by day she felt the gap between them closing bit by bit. She felt closer to them than when they first met. "Don't you think so too?"

They weren't as disrespectful as before.

"Sure," Yuma vaguely responded as he opened the door for her.

The walls were white, the pillow, the curtains, practically everything in there was somewhat similar to the color of clouds. The nurse herded the two to the bed area and made them lay down on the beds.

"Why are you two in school when you're injured," The nurse shook her head in disapproval. "If injured or even a little sick, just stay home."

"I'm sorry," Yui responded as the nurse wrapped a bandage around her arm and wrist.

"Ah, it's fine, do whatever you like." The nurse smiled when she finished wrapping bandages around them. "But make sure to get well."

The nurse made them lie in bed, not allowing them to get up unless they had to go to the bathroom. The resting area was like a wide and long hallway lined with beds; the top ends of the bed against the wall with curtains enclosing the bed.

"Why are you sitting on my bed," Yuma sat up and rested against the wall when Yui sat on his bed. "You have your own bed, sit own your own bed!"

"What's wrong with sitting here?" Yui asked, offended.

"It's my bed!"

"It's the school's bed, not yours—"

"Will you two shut up?" An agitated voice interrupted from the bed beside them and made the duo shriek.

The curtain was moved aside, revealing Subaru. His pissed off red eyes stared at them. They weren't exactly intimidated by him, just a bit startled is all. Okay, actually he's looks really scary right now. 

"We're sorry," Yui quickly replied.

He didn't seem disgusted by their presence as he laid back on his back. She knows he seems unfriendly but she knows he's a very warm person. His rank was unknown but he seemed like a person from the upper class.

They both stared at him, contemplating whether or not he was an aristocrat.

"Stop staring, I can feel your stares."

A moment ago his eyes were closed but now they were open, red eyes staring at them. His eyes were flashing with caution, wary of their gaze on him. His stare demanded an immediate answer from them.

"Hey, am I an aristocrat," he interrogated with a gruff voice, pointing fingers at them with his eyes.

"You do look like one," Yuma retorted. "But we don't know for sure if you don't tell us."

Yui's curiosity leaped out. "Are you an aristocrat?"

He always gets this question whenever he meets someone new, but he doesn't blame them for thinking that way. Their assumptions were right on track. He is an aristocrat but not as famous as Reiji or Shu.

"I'm like you guys," his mouth lied. "From the poor class."

Their posture was stiff. He thought if he lied about being poor they'd relax a bit since he'd noticed they've been taking beatings from snotty rich kids lately.

"Hah?! But you seriously look like someone from the higher class!"

"It's nice to meet you," the blonde smiled. She didn't look so terrified right now as she stuck out her hand for a friendly handshake while her friend stuck out his hand as well. They looked relaxed now.

"What's wrong?" She was waving her hand in front of Subaru, trying to snap him out of his stunned state. "You look really surprised."

It was unbelievable, though amusing at the same time. They were way too gullible. But he really took a liking to them. Most would fight back and insist he was an aristocrat or in the middle class.

"Yui, you're invading his personal space."

"Me? You're doing the same thing too Yuma!"

When they entered his shop that day he was strangely drawn to them. They were hanging out with aristocrats after all. But it wasn't just that. The two acted and looked so comfortable and around the three aristocrats that day. He was even thankful for that redhead who broke the pot of plant. It gave him a chance to interact with them, the blonde girl to be precise.

He also felt familiar to them, like he'd encountered them before when he was little. This doesn't feel like the first time they talked to him. Even on that day when they entered the shop, it didn't feel like it was the first time he saw them.

.

.

.

"Fufu~ Those three are super jealous right now," Laito whispered to Kanato as they shared Yui's lunch box. It was now a habit for Yuma to trade lunch boxes with Ayato while Kanato exchanged his for Yui's. Kanato nodded at his brother's remark.

"It's very obvious, they're really glaring at them," Kanato mentioned.

While eating their lunch, Laito and Kanato observed the trio, Ayato, Reiji and Shu stare intently at the other trio, Yui, Yuma and Subaru who were happily conversing with each other.

"Hm~ They'll get used to it and get along soon enough."

Kanato nodded, agreeing with Laito. Whether unconsciously or not Yui and Yuma had a tendency of making other people get along with each other. It would be no surprise if weeks later Subaru would be casually talking to them, however there was something amiss about him.

Did Yui and Yuma really think he was like them?

"Why do you think he's lying Laito?"

"Who knows," he hummed, staring at Yui's and Yuma's cheerful face. Those two seem to enjoy his company. Laito couldn't really blame them. If there was someone you know in the same place as yourself, then who wouldn't be excited about that? However, Subaru isn't in the same place as them.

As time ticked by Ayato, Shu and Reiji eventually got along with Subaru, just as Laito had said.

"Subaru, have you ever eaten aristocrat food before?"

"No."

"Really? Yuma and I always trade lunch boxes with Kanato and Ayato so want to try some?"

"Fufu~ You can have mine."

"Oh, sure...thanks."

One day all they talked about was food during lunch.

...

"You like to play sports, what kind?!"

"Ah..."

"Huhu~ You're invading his personal bubble Ayato~"

On another day Ayato stole Subaru and rambled about sports.

...

"You like this kind of music too?"

That day Shu brought everyone to a music store after school.

...

"Honestly, you four should learn a thing or two from Subaru."

Reiji had Subaru help Yui, Yuma, Ayato and Kanato with math when he found out they failed a math test.

...

Days were spent together during lunch as well as after school and on weekends made them more familiar with each other. If anyone were to mess with Yui or Yuma the others would pulverize whoever messes with them. Though, their peers were beginning to change how they used social status to classify someone. Terms such as aristocrats were used less.

* * *

"..."

Perhaps today was not a perfect day to have Christa over. It was the weekend and Yui and Yuma were here. She had informed her of their friend's death which lead the silver haired woman sobbing, arms on the table between them, face buried in her arms while weeping. Between her and Christa the best friend Yui's mother ever had was possibly Christa. But after Christa regained her composure and spoke, Beatrix was hit with guilt. She couldn't retort back after what Christa had said.

"...You'll hurt them like that girl's mother so—"

Beatrix snapped out of it and responded, "They accepted it out of their own will. I just offered them a job."

But Yui and Yuma didn't really need the job. Their villagers were able to take care of them. They didn't really need the money on the first place. She was the one who needed them. Her only plan was to set an example, to show that status isn't needed—to get rid of it.

By getting her sons to disregard any form of status would somewhat bring her at peace. And they did. Now she was somewhat at peace. Neglecting status was something she was not able to do in the past but she's glad her sons are able to do it.

"Fine, but if they're threatened please don't run away and help them this time." Beatrix was aware of what Christa was hinting at. She grit her teeth and nodded. That was something she can never run away from. The guilt will never go away—

Sound of glass shattering cut in.

"Who is outside the door?" Beatrix's eyes flew at the door. "Come inside this instance."

The door creaked open and apologies spouted out of the person's mouth.

* * *

"That's cool," Yuma remarked. "Well even if we don't remember you that's still cool."

"Do you remember their faces clearly from when they were little?" Ayato jumped in.

Subaru shook his head, trying to focus on his homework. Ayato and Yuma weren't really doing their homework. They were more focused on Subaru's life, sandwiching the white haired male on the floor. Shu had already taken over Reiji's bed, lying on his stomach while doing homework. Reiji was settled against the bed, on the floor with Laito and Kanato in front of him. Those three were focusing on work as well.

As Ayato and Yuma called out Subaru, Reiji interjected.

"Will you two focus on your work," Reiji gave them a sour look. "If say you say Subaru one more time Shu will be the one helping you with your studies."

And of course they didn't listen to him because right after he said all that, they face Subaru and babbled simultaneously.

"Hey Subaru!"

"What did I just tell you two!"

"Fu~ Now you two have to rely on Shu for help." Laito snickered.

"…," Shu stared at Laito. "What's wrong with that?"

"Uh, your teaching isn't very effective," Subaru informed.

"...really now," Shu drawled as he got up.

Due to being provoked Shu decided to help out Subaru, Ayato and Yuma with their homework. As he helped them with that, Reiji, Laito and Kanato watch in amusement at the confused faces the trio shared while Shu was trying to explain a problem to them.

"Reiji," Laito started. "When Subaru tells them the truth how do you think they'll react?"

"They wouldn't get upset over that...Yui is forgiving," Reiji reasoned.

"Ah, that reminds me," Laito placed his pencil down and cracked his knuckles. "Why don't you tell them about that incident?"

"I've told you before, it's not wise to reveal some things."

"Hm~ Aren't you just scared they'll hate after you tell them?"

"..."


	16. Serenity

**A/N: I was dragging this too long so I decided to end it.**

* * *

 **Serenity**

* * *

"Yui," Beatrix started cautiously. "How much did you hear?"

She gulped, the sound was audible among the silence too, tilting her head down to focus on the pink and red tiled floor beneath her feet. This room felt like her mother. The color of the floor were her favorite colors. The curtains, walls, chairs and table she had seen for a split second upon entering inside were different shades of red. Her mother must have been great friends with this two.

"...I'm sorry." After apologizing she picked up her head, frowning a bit, and faced them. "I heard all of it."

"Ah, I see," Beatrix responded, getting up from her seat.

"I'm really sorry for—" Yui bowed her head again. But when Beatrix walked past her and started to gather all the broken glass out in front of the office, Yui picked up her head and turned around. "What are you doing—Wait, I'll clean it up!"

She ran over to Beatrix's side, knelt down and clasped her hands over the hand holding the glass pieces. Yui managed to snatch the broken sharp remains of the cups from Beatrix's hand. "W-Why are you crying?"

It felt completely awkward for Yui. She honestly did not know how to handle a crying person, especially one who's an adult.

The woman knelt down and started to ramble while sobbing. She went on and on about how it was her fault, that she was a murderer and spouted out apologizes left and right. She muttered phrases such as "It was all my fault" and "I am so sorry" like a mantra, the name of Yui's mother as well.

"P-Please," Yui's shoulders shook, her eyes began to produce clear liquid, tears. Going back to the past was giving her a huge headache. "S-Stop, it's not your fault..."

Yui hugged Beatrix with a free arm. She let her tears loose as well, sobbing just as loudly as Beatrix was. She wanted to her her point across, repeating "it's not your fault" over and over again.

The past was the past and there was no need to dwell so much on the past. There was no need to constantly be reminded of it, just as long as the damage had been acknowledged at least once.

She wasn't mad. She wasn't going to seek revenge or anything like that.

She accepted the apologies spilling from Beatrix's mouth, nodding her head as she tightened her hug. Her other hand, holding the broken glass, clenched, pricking her skin and drew blood. "M-Mom doesn't want to see you blame yourself forever...It's not your fault...It's not..."

They stayed that way until they could no longer cry. As their tears slowly came to a stop, Beatrix broke away from Yui's hug.

"You...Your eyes," Beatrix picked up her hand, about to cup Yui's cheek but refrained and dropped her arm. "...Resemble hers so much...I..."

The words "I miss her so much" faintly fluttered out of the adult's mouth.

* * *

Set into a panicked state, Reiji glared and gave Laito a piece of his mind for the information he had leaked to Yuma. The uneasy thing was that Yuma was silent. He hadn't said a word since Laito dropped the bomb on him.

When he started to speak, all eyes were on him.

"I don't care anymore." Everyone looked so surprised. He looked over to Shu and Reiji. "You two have more to tell me too right? About that fire on that day."

Knowing Yui for the longest time, her model would be "In theory we're always in the future so you should always think positive!"

.

.

.

After all the mess and trouble they went through summer was finally here, scorching hot but a refreshing season.

"Your throw is too powerful Yuma! Throw softer like Subaru!"

"How the hell will I hit anyone if I throw softer!"

"Dammit, how dare you throw that at yours truly Kanato!"

"That's the whole point!"

The gang was in the garden of the Sakamaki's summer home, playing with water balloons. Being hit by the balloons filled with water was refreshing but terrifying at the same time. Certain people, Yuma and Kanato, went over board and harsh threw balloons at their opponents. Yui, Ayato and Laito felt like they were being attacked by arrows.

"Hey~ Why don't you two join us," Laito called out.

"Why don't you join them Shu? Laito and Yui are short one person." Reiji took a sip of his cold drink. They were spectating the scene instead of participating in it, seated on a round table with a small tree, providing shade, beside it.

"...Why don't you go," Shu responded.

They both weren't up for running around and wasting energy. But it was fun just watching the others run around Reiji thought. "It's...interesting...to see them have so much fun."

A moment of silence between them passed.

"Reiji...Your wording was creepy."

"Then, how would you have said it."

"Hm," Shu murmured. "I can't believe we're actually friends with them."

"Indeed, it's very surprising—"

"Hurry up and join us," Ayato shouted, interrupting Reiji by throwing a balloon towards his way. The others joined in as well, attacking Shu and Reiji with water balloons and telling them to join in on the fun.

"Let's just join them," Shu grumbled. "Or they'll never shut up about this."

They were different from them but they managed to become friends. They had move on with the past and opened up, nothing could make them happier than this.


End file.
